SEOUL - South Korea's exports marked their first fall in four months owing to the negative effect of the US tariffs imposition, government data showed Sunday.

Exports, which account for about half of the export-driven economy, shrank 1.3 percent from a year earlier to $57.27 billion in May, recording the first reduction since January, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Imports dipped 5.3 percent to $50.33 billion, sending the trade surplus to $6.94 billion. The trade balance stayed in black for the fourth consecutive month.

Of the country's 15 major export items, five products saw an increase in outbound shipment.

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Semiconductor exports soared 21.2 percent over the year to $13.79 billion in May due to strong demand for high-end chips, including double data rate 5 (DDR5) and high bandwidth memory (HBM) used in generative artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets.

Mobile device shipments gained 3.9 percent to $1.30 billion on robust demand for smartphones, but display panel exports declined 18.0 percent to $1.34 billion.

Computer exports added 2.3 percent to $1.07 billion on solid demand for solid state drives (SSD) for servers.

Automotive exports retreated 4.4 percent to $6.20 billion on lower demand for electric vehicles, and auto parts shipments decreased 9.4 percent to $1.66 billion.

Exports of ships mounted 4.3 percent to $2.23 billion, but general machinery shipment diminished 5.3 percent to $4.06 billion.

Exports of oil products dived 20.9 percent to $3.58 billion on the back of lower product price.

Global prices of gasoline and diesel went down 17.7 percent and 18.4 percent each in May on a yearly basis.

Petrochemical shipments dropped 20.8 percent to $3.24 billion on the global supply glut and cheaper crude oil.

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Steel product exports shrank 12.4 percent to $2.56 billion, and secondary battery shipments slipped 18.4 percent to $520 million.

Exports of home appliances and textiles slid in double digits to $610 million and $850 million.

Exports to the United States retreated 8.1 percent over the year to $10.05 billion in May, continuing to fall for the second straight month on lower demand for cars affected by the US tariffs imposition.

Shipments to the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) dropped 1.3 percent to $10.01 billion owing to weaker demand for oil products and petrochemicals, but exports to the European Union (EU) swelled 4.0 percent to $6.05 billion.

Exports to Japan, Latin America, India and the Middle East were down to $2.38 billion, $2.21 billion, $1.62 billion and $1.38 billion, respectively.

Regarding imports, the import of three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, dropped 12.8 percent to $10.13 billion last month.

Non-energy imports slipped 3.2 percent to $40.20 billion on lower demand for mobile phones and auto parts.