South Korea's exports of information-communication technology (ICT) products dropped from a year earlier last month partly on a decrease in shipments to China, the government said Thursday.

Outbound shipments of ICT products came to US$14.19 billion in August, down 2.1 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports increased 5.9 percent on-year to $6.73 billion, causing the country's trade surplus in the sector to shrink to $7.46 billion from $8.13 billion in August 2013.

The ministry partly attributed the drop in exports to a cut in the number of working days by one in August, noting the daily average amount of exports for working days had increased to $630 million from $617 million a year earlier.

"The drop in exports, despite a rise in the daily average amount, is believed to be due to a base effect created by a surprising 11.4 percent on-year spike in August 2013, as well as poor performance by some export items," it said in a press release.

Shipments of digital televisions tumbled 35.5 percent on-year to $560 million, with those of computers and computer parts also dwindling 4.6 percent to $550 million.

Shipments of semiconductors gained 5 percent on-year to $5.24 billion.

By country, exports to China slipped 1.4 percent on-year to $7.33 billion.

Decreasing exports to China, the world's single largest importer of South Korean products, have affected not only South Korea's ICT shipments but its overall exports.

The ministry earlier said the country's exports to China had slipped 3.8 percent on-year in August, partly causing the country's overall exports to inch down 0.1 percent.

Shipments of ICT products to European Union countries dropped 8.5 percent on-year to $1.03 billion, with shipments to the United States also slipping 0.4 percent to $1.36 billion, the ministry said. (Yonhap)