SEOUL, Dec. 30 (UPI) -- South Korea's current account surplus eased to $6.03 billion in November from October's record high $9.51 billion, its central bank reported Monday.
The November figure, released on the website of Bank of Korea, also was lower than the surplus of $7.54 billion in the same month of last year, due largely to seasonal factors.
However, the latest numbers, spurred by export growth, marked the 22nd straight month of surplus for Asia's fourth-largest economy after China, Japan and India.
The current account is the broadest measure of a country's trade with other nations and a surplus results when receipts from exports and financial transfers exceed money spent on imports of goods and services and money transfers.
The country's total surplus for the 11 months of this year reached $64.3 billion, exceeding its earlier estimate of $63 billion.
Separately, the South Korean government expects the surplus for all of 2013 to reach $70 billion.
Speaking to reporters, Jung Young-taek, head of the bank's economics statistics division, said both exports and imports had been robust for December, but would not say if the final numbers would meet the government's estimate, Yonhap News Agency said.
