SEOUL, Sept. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports, which account for about half of the economy, rebounded for the first time in 20 months last month, ending the longest monthly decline, a government report showed on Thursday.
The exports rose 2.6 percent from a year earlier to 40.1 billion U.S. dollars in August, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marked the first growth since December 2014, ending the longest monthly fall for 19 straight months.
The rebound came as demand for major export items, including semiconductors, petrochemicals and steels, increasing amid higher export prices. More business days compared with the same month of last year also contributed to the rebound.
Imports inched up 0.1 percent to 34.8 billion dollars in August, recording the first rebound since September 2014.
Trade surplus in August amounted to 5.3 billion dollars last month, keeping a surplus trend since February 2012.
