South Korea's exports tumbled nearly 15 percent on-year in August despite a series of government measures to boost trade, the government said Tuesday.
  

Outbound shipments came to US$39.33 billion in August, down 14.7 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It marks the eighth consecutive month of decline.
  

Still, the country's trade surplus widened to $4.35 billion as imports dropped at a faster rate of 18.3 percent on-year to $34.98 billion.
  

August marks the 43rd straight month that South Korea has posted a trade surplus, the ministry said in a press release.
  

The plunge in exports was largely attributed to a drop in global oil prices, along with a global oversupply of the country's key export items, both of which pulled down prices of South Korean goods.
  

In August, the average price of South Korean goods shipped overseas tumbled 18 percent from a year earlier, while the overall volume of exports gained 3.8 percent on-year.
  

Such a drop in prices again stemmed from a large cut in prices of petroleum and petrochemical products, which plunged 41.1 percent and 26.3 percent on-year, respectively.
  

By country, shipments to the United States slipped 4.4 percent on-year with exports to China, the world's single largest importer of South Korean products, also dropping 8.8 percent.
  

Shipments to Japan plunged 24.4 percent on-year, and shipments to European Union countries also tumbled 20.8 percent.
  

The drop in imports was attributed to lower oil prices, leading to a 31.3 percent on-year plunge in the country's purchases of raw materials, including energy.
  

Imports of capital goods and consumer products, on the other hand, rose 9.6 percent and 4.5 percent on-year, respectively. (Yonhap)