S.Korea’s travel deficit widens to 1-year high in January

South Korea’s travel account deficit reached its highest level in one year in January as a greater number of Koreans spent their winter break abroad, central bank data showed on Friday.

The tourism deficit was $1.47 billion in January, the largest deficit since the $1.48 billion shortfall a year before, according to the Bank of Korea.

The service account deficit, including the travel balance, widened to $2.66 billion in January, compared to the prior month’s $2.54 billion shortfall.

Overall, the current account balance maintained its surplus trend for the ninth consecutive month, recording a surplus of $3.05 billion in January, led by brisk growth of memory chips, cars and machinery.

Compared to December last year, the current account surplus in January more than halved. But compared to the previous year’s $4.2 billion deficit, the balance turned to the black in January.

BALANCE ON GOODS ACCOUNTS

The goods account surplus reached $4.24 billion in January, with exports up 14.7% to $55.22 billion from a month before.

Imports shrank 8.2% on-month to $50.98 billion on the back of a decline in global energy prices and sluggish domestic demand.

The primary income dwindled 34.1% to $1.62 billion from a month before due to reduced dividend income from Korean companies’ overseas operations. The January primary income represents one-fourth of the prior year’s surplus of $6.67 billion.

Write to Jin-gyu Kang at josep@hankyung.com
 

Yeonhee Kim edited this article