Trade terms worsen for 18th straight month in September

trade terms-September tally

Trade terms worsen for 18th straight month in September

SEOUL, Oct. 27 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's terms of trade worsened for the 18th straight month in September as import prices grew much faster than exports, central bank data showed Thursday.

The nation's net terms-of-trade index for goods came to 82.47 in September, down 9.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the preliminary data from the Bank of Korea.

From a month earlier, the index fell 0.6 percent.

The index is calculated by dividing the index for export prices by that for import prices. It shows the amount of imports a country can buy for each unit of exports. A lower index means worse trade terms.

Export prices fell 0.9 percent on-year in September, while import prices jumped 10 percent over the same period, the data showed.

Import prices have been on the rise driven by high energy and other key raw materials. Adding to the upward move is the local currency's sharp slide against the dollar that makes imports more expensive.

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