South Korea's exports grew 12.4 percent from a year earlier in the first 10 days of this month on strong shipments of chips, data showed Wednesday.

Outbound shipments reached $17.6 billion in the December 1-10 period, compared with $15.6 billion tallied a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

Imports gained 11.6 percent on-year to $19.1 billion, resulting in a trade deficit of $1.55 billion.

Adjusted for the number of working days, daily average exports increased 5 percent on-year to $2.34 billion, the agency said. This year's period included 7.5 working days, compared with 7 working days over the same timeframe last year.

Exports of semiconductors surged 43 percent on-year to $3.61 billion over the cited period.

Semiconductor exports accounted for 20.6 percent of the country's total exports during the 10-day period, up 4.4 percentage points from a year earlier, the data showed, amid an industry cycle upturn.

But auto exports sank 8.6 percent to $1.45 billion, and those of petroleum products shed 9.4 percent to $1.22 billion.

By nation, shipments to China increased 19 percent on-year to $3.76 billion, and exports to the United States gained 19.4 percent to $3.7 billion.

Outbound shipments to the European Union also gained 10.3 percent to $1.56 billion. (Yonhap)