The tally marks the 81st consecutive month of the balance being in the baclk, but it represents the smallest surplus since April when it hit a six-year low of $1.77 billion.

The goods account surplus declined to $7.97 billion in November from $11.46 billion a year earlier due to a rapid gain in imports amid rising oil prices.

Exports brought about $51.72 billion in surplus in November, up 0.5 percent from a year earlier. The central banks said the on-year growth sharply slowed down from the 28.8 percent on-year expansion tallied in October as prices of South Korea's key export items like semiconductors and petrochemical goods started to drop.

The services account deficit fell to $2.29 billion from a deficit of $3.27 billion a year earlier as the number of foreign arrivals jumped 23.5 percent on-year to 1.35 million in November.

In particular, the number of Chinese visitors rose 35.1 percent on-year to 404,000, while that of the Japanese soared 40.5 percent to 300,000.

The number of departures edged up 3.1 percent to 2.3 million. (Yonhap)