South Korea's quarterly current-account surplus tops Germany and Japan combined

South Korea's second-quarter current-account surplus exceeded those of Germany and Japan combined for the first time in comparable records starting in 1996, local outlets reported on October 25. Yonhap, citing IMF statistics in the Bank of Korea's database, put the surplus at $116.63 billion. That ranked second behind China among 36 countries with available quarterly figures. [ 1 , 2 ]

Yonhap reported that the surplus was 4.1 times the $28.39 billion recorded a year earlier. Germany and Japan recorded increases of 11.9% and 5.0%, respectively. South Korea also exceeded their combined surplus in July and August, when its total reached $88.19 billion against their $80.82 billion. Asia Economy's summary gives a different second-quarter Korean figure, $116.33 billion, while most reports give $116.63 billion. The reports also differ slightly on the margin over Germany and Japan. [ 1 , 2 , 22 , 25 ]

The IMF's October outlook forecasts South Korea's annual surplus at $421.946 billion, second to China among 190 countries and territories with projections. The Bank of Korea separately said on October 22 that strong semiconductor exports would lift the surplus above its previous $450 billion forecast. Dong-A Ilbo reported second-quarter chip exports of $113.89 billion, up 181.6% from a year earlier. [ 1 , 3 ]

Electronic Times warned that weaker AI investment or expanded memory supply from competitors could threaten the price-led export gains. President Lee Jae-myung praised Korean companies' performance in an October 25 post on X, according to Newsis. He called for stronger industrial competitiveness and said economic activity should translate into more investment, jobs and better incomes and living standards. [ 6 , 12 ]