Global demand sends S Korea’s exports surging to a 32-year high

Outsized gains reinforce view that global commerce is recovering from the pandemic, fueled by increased vaccinations.

South Korea exports have logged their sharpest expansion in 32 years in May, marking another robust month of shipments driven by stronger consumer demand globally as many economies start to reopen. Surging chip and car shipments helped power a 45.6 percent surge in South Korea’s exports from a year earlier, government data showed on Tuesday, posting the fastest growth since August 1988 and extending their expansion to a seventh month in a row. Exports growth, however, slightly missed a consensus of a 48.5 percent gain in a Reuters poll.