Korea’s exports has plunged 16.5 percent through late August, continuing the downward trend since last October.

Korea logged $27.9 billion in exports in the first 20 days of August, sliding from $33.3 billion tallied a year earlier, according to early data from the Korea Customs Service on Monday.

The average daily exports of goods were down 10.7 percent in the same period.

Trade accounts logged a deficit of $3.57 billion compared to $1.35 billion from the same number of days a month earlier.

Chip exports were down 24.7 percent, while exports for petroleum products and steel products plunged 41.7 percent and 20.5 percent, respectively.

Exports for precision machinery and computer peripherals fell 23.4 percent and 32.8 percent, respectively.

Exports for ships went up 54.9 percent while those for automobiles jumped 20.2 percent.

By country, exports to China slid 27.5 percent, falling for 14 consecutive months through July.

Exports to the United States, European Union and Vietnam dropped 7.2 percent, 7.1 percent and 7.7 percent, respectively.

Imports also fell 27.9 percent in the same period to $31.42 billion.

Imports for coal dropped 49.1 percent, while those for gas and crude oil fell 45.2 percent and 37.4 percent, respectively.

Imports from China, the U.S. and EU all fell by 22.1 percent, 35.8 percent and 20.7 percent, respectively.

Korean exports have been under pressure since last year because of a fall in chip prices and a reduced demand from China.

There’s been a deficit in trade with China since October.

Concerns for Korea’s trade balance is projected to stay elevated as China’s post-Covid recovery falters from a property crisis and falling exports.

China faces a crisis in its real estate industry, which forced the country’s central bank on Monday to cut the key interest rate, used by commerical banks to issue one-year bank loans, from 3.55 percent to 3.45 percent, a change that came for the second time in three months.

Chinese real estate giant Country Garden is anticipating a loss of as much as $7.6 billion in the first half of the year. China’s youth unemployment rate for 16 to 24 year-olds in urban areas hit a record high of 21.3 percent in June.

Korea’s trade deficit totals $28.44 billion this year, which accounts for 59.4 percent of the $47.8 billion deficit reported last year.

BY JIN MIN-JI [jin.minji@joongang.co.kr]