Thanks to the continued strong export performance across the information and communications technology (ICT) industry, including semiconductors, displays, mobile phones, and computers, ICT exports in July showed high growth, recording a 30% increase for the fourth consecutive month.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the ICT export and import trends for July 2024 on the 15th.

In July, ICT exports reached $19.4 billion, a 32.8% increase year-on-year, while imports reached $12.12 billion, a 6% increase year-on-year. The July ICT trade balance recorded a surplus of $7.28 billion.

By product, semiconductor exports reached $11.23 billion, a 49% increase year-on-year. Driven by increased demand for semiconductors driven by the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) market and the recovery of the IT device market, overall semiconductor exports achieved double-digit growth for nine consecutive months.

In particular, memory increased significantly compared to the same month last year due to rising fixed transaction prices and increased demand for high value-added items such as HBM, expanding the growth rate of semiconductor exports.

Display exports reached $1.93 billion, up 2.0% year-on-year. Driven by recovering demand for electronic devices such as TVs and PCs, overall display exports, led by organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), have increased for 12 consecutive months.

Mobile phone sales increased 69.4% year-on-year to $1.23 billion. Exports of mobile phones increased significantly, driven by a significant increase in exports of parts, particularly from major mobile phone manufacturing regions such as China (including Hong Kong) and Vietnam, leading to a double-digit increase in overall mobile phone exports.

Computer and peripheral equipment exports reached $1.31 billion, up 51.1% year-on-year. Demand for solid-state drives (SSDs), a key storage device, continued to grow due to increased investment in servers and data centers, leading to seven consecutive months of growth in overall computer and peripheral equipment exports.

Telecommunications equipment exports decreased 2.4% year-on-year to $190 million. While some regions, including the US, saw increases, overall exports declined due to declines in China (including Hong Kong) and Vietnam.

By region, China (including Hong Kong) saw a 31.1% year-on-year increase of $7.92 billion, while Vietnam saw a 23.7% year-on-year increase of $3.12 billion. The United States saw a 40.1% year-on-year increase of $2.42 billion, and the European Union saw a 23.5% year-on-year increase of $1.01 billion. Japan saw a 34.7% year-on-year decrease of $270 million.