Korea's trade surplus expanded from a month earlier in February but mostly due to imports shrinking at a faster clip than exports, customs data showed Tuesday.

The country's trade surplus came to $7.38 billion last month,

compared with a surplus of $5.17 billion in the previous month, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.  

February marked the 49th consecutive month of a trade surplus.

From a year earlier, however, the February tally dropped 1.2 percent.

The on-month increase was largely attributed to a cut in

imports that outpaced a drop in exports.Exports plunged 12.2 percent on-year to $36.4 billion last month, while imports tumbled 14.6 percent to $29.02 billion. The country's exports have fallen every single month since the start of 2015.

Outbound shipments of mobile communication devices, such as

cellular phones, surged 9.9 percent on-year, but exports of

semiconductors and ships plunged 12.6 percent and 46.1 percent, respectively.

Numbers also dropped for other major export items, including

automobiles, auto parts, petroleum products and liquefied crystal display panels.

The drop in imports was partly attributed to low oil prices.

Korea's imports of crude oil plunged 30.6 percent on-year to $2.8 billion in February despite a 20.3 percent spike in the sheer volume of imports to 95 million barrels from 80 million barrels in the same month last year.

The customs office explained the average price of crude imports tumbled 42.3 percent on-year in February.

By country, Korea's exports to China slipped 12.9 percent on-year to $8.9 billion, marking the eighth consecutive month of a drop since July 2015.

Shipments to EU countries gained 5 percent to $3.08 billion, but shipments to Japan tumbled 15 percent to $1.7 billion. (Yonhap)