South Korean exports of information and communication technology products dropped for the 13th straight month in November on sluggish demand for chips, displays and mobile phones, trade data showed Sunday.

The value of outbound shipments totaled $14.31 billion last month, plunging 21.8 percent from a year ago, according to findings compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

South Korea's ICT exports have been on the decline since November last year, with overseas shipments consistently falling by over 20 percent, compared to the previous year, starting in May.

Exports of semiconductors, one of the country's key export items, tumbled 30.7 percent on-year to around $7.48 billion due largely to falling prices for memory chips and slowing demand for system chips.

Shipments of displays dived 25 percent to $1.71 billion in the face of dropping prices of liquid crystal displays and stagnant demand for mid- and high-priced organic light-emitting diode screens.

Exports of mobile phones, another key export item, dipped 0.9 percent on-year to $1.02 billion last month, amid more offshore production by local companies. The latest findings, however, showed a rise in shipments of phone components.

On the upside, exports of computers and peripheral devices jumped 22.4 percent from the previous year to $1 billion, thanks to robust sales of solid-state drives.

By region, shipments to China, including Hong Kong, contracted 21 percent to below $7.14 billion, with those to the United States backtracking 22.5 percent to $1.57 billion. Exports to the European Union were down 16.8 percent to $870 million, while shipments to Vietnam, another major trading partner, nosedived 22.2 percent to $2.1 billion in November.

Exports to Japan inched up 0.2 percent to $380 million, bolstered by shipments of chips and rechargeable batteries.

South Korea imported $9.09 billion worth of ICT products in November, resulting in a trade surplus of $5.22 billion in the sector, the latest data showed.

In the first 11 months of this year, the country's ICT exports reached $162.53 billion, down 20.5 percent compared to the same period in 2018. Its imports rose 1.6 percent to $99.35 billion, with the trade surplus hitting $63.18 billion, significantly smaller than the $106.61 billion reported a year earlier. (Yonhap)