Korea posted its 51st straight monthly trade surplus in April as an economic slowdown dragged down imports faster than exports, customs data showed Monday.

The country’s trade surplus stood at $8.82 billion last month, down slightly from a four-month high of $9.85 billion in March, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

The increase was largely attributed to a cut in imports that outpaced a drop in exports.

Exports fell 11.2 percent on-year to $41 billion last month, while imports tumbled 14.9 percent to $32.2 billion.

This year, outbound shipments hit a 19 percent on-year drop in January and 13.1 percent fall in February. The downward pace slowed slightly to 8.1 percent in March but accelerated again to 11.2 percent in April.

Imports also have seen contractions for 19 months in a row because of low oil prices.

South Korea’s imports of crude oil plunged 30.4 percent on-year to $3.2 billion despite a 13.2-percent gain in the sheer volume of imports to 88 million barrels, according to the customs agency.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)