SEOUL - South Korea's export hit an all-time high for January thanks to surging demand for locally-made semiconductors and automobiles, government data showed Sunday.

Export, which accounts for about half of the export-driven economy, soared 33.9 percent to $65.85 billion in January, surpassing all previous records for the month, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

The daily average export gained 14.0 percent to $2.80 billion, a record performance for the month of January.

Import grew 11.7 percent to 57.11 billion dollars in January compared to the same month of last year, sending the trade surplus to 8.74 billion dollars.

Of the country's 15 major export items, 13 products saw a growth in outbound shipment.

Semiconductor export more than doubled to $20.54 billion, marking a record high for any January.

The surging chip shipment was driven by soaring demand for memory chips used in artificial intelligence (AI) chipset.

Display panel export jumped 26.1 percent to $1.38 billion on higher TV demand, and mobile phone shipment spiked 66.9 percent to $2.03 billion.

Computer shipment mounted 89.2 percent to $1.55 billion due to higher demand for solid state drives (SSDs), affected by the expanded demand for AI infrastructure.

Automotive export advanced 21.7 percent to $6.07 billion owing to robust demand for eco-friendly vehicles, and auto parts shipment rose 3.9 percent to $1.63 billion.

General machinery shipment increased 8.6 percent to $3.71 billion, but export for ships shrank 0.4 percent to $2.47 billion.

Export for oil products grew 8.5 percent to $3.74 billion on higher refinery utilization rates, but petrochemicals export declined 1.5 percent to $3.52 billion on the back of global supply glut.

Shipment for steel products, home appliances, textiles, and secondary batteries rose in single figures to $2.63 billon, $560 million, $770 million, and $550 million each.

Export to the United States surged 29.5 percent to $12.02 billion last month thanks to soaring chip demand that offset the negative effect of the US tariff imposition.

Shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) swelled 40.7 percent to $12.11 billion, while export to the European Union (EU) gained 6.9 percent to $5.39 billion.

Export to Japan diminished 4.7 percent to $2.25 billion, but those to Latin America, India and the Middle East expanded in double digits to $2.43 billion, $1.68 billion and $1.57 billion each.

Regarding import items, the import of three major energy sources, including crude oil, natural gas and coal, dipped 11.9 percent to $10.03 billion last month.

Non-energy import expanded 18.4 percent to $47.08 billion on robust demand for semiconductor equipment, semiconductors, mobile phones and cars.