SEOUL, June 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export growth hit the highest in over 32 years in May amid the recovering global demand from the COVID-19 pandemic shock, government data showed Tuesday.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, amounted to 50.73 billion U.S. dollars in May, up 45.6 percent from the same month of last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

It was the highest expansion in over 32 years since August 1988, continuing to rise for seven straight months since November last year.

It was the first time that the country's export surged more than 40 percent for two months in a row. The outbound shipment advanced 41.2 percent in April.

The daily average shipment, which excludes the working day effect, spiked 49.0 percent over the year to 2.42 billion dollars in May, marking the third-highest monthly figure.

Import soared 37.9 percent to 47.81 billion dollars last month, sending the trade surplus to 2.92 billion dollars. The trade balance stayed in black for 13 months.

The outbound shipment topped 50 billion dollars for the third consecutive month, indicating the recovery in global demand with the launch of mass vaccinations in major economies.

Export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, expanded 22.7 percent over the year to 13.18 billion dollars in May, keeping a double-digit growth for five straight months.

Shipment to the United States and the European Union (EU) soared over 60 percent, continuing to increase for the ninth consecutive month.

Export to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Japan advanced in double figures, and shipment to Latin American countries and India more than doubled last month.

Among the country's 15 major export items, 12 recorded a double-digit expansion. The ship export alone declined last month as the figure reflected ships ordered two to three years ago.

Semiconductor export surpassed 10 billion dollars in two and a half years since November 2018, keeping an upward momentum for 11 months in a row thanks to a higher price for memory chips.

The daily average export for petrochemicals hit a record high in May on the back of the recovering demand for the products used in home appliances and packing materials.

General machinery shipment kept growing for the third consecutive month, and the automotive export maintained a double-digit increase for five straight months on solid demand for electric cars and sport utility vehicles (SUV).

Oil product export posted the fastest gain in almost 16 years last month due to the global economic recovery and the higher crude oil price.

For the first five months of this year, the export reached a new record high of 248.4 billion dollars. The daily average shipment also hit a fresh high of 2.24 billion dollars during the five-month period.

The ministry forecast that the positive export trend would continue owing to the obvious recovery of global trade, the balanced recovery in the export of major items and the boom in the global chip market.

Meanwhile, the country's import advanced in double digits for four straight months, keeping an upward momentum for the sixth consecutive month.

It was attributable to the recovery of the domestic economy, which led to a higher capacity ratio for local factories, as well as the improved sentiment among businesses and consumers. Enditem

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