SEOUL, Nov 1 (Reuters) - South Korea's exports nearly doubled in October from a year earlier, beating market expectations and marking the sharpest jump in more than 50 years, trade data showed on Sunday.
Exports from Asia's fourth-largest economy, a bellwether for global trade, rose 93.7% last month to $115.28 billion, slightly higher than a median 93.2% rise forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
The increase, boosted by favourable calendar effects of more working days due to the timing difference in local Chuseok holidays, beat September's 83.7% gain and was the strongest since January 1974.
Overseas sales of semiconductors jumped 259.4% as prices and volume remained high on continued facility investment by global big tech firms in the competition for artificial intelligence industry leadership, the trade ministry said.
Computer sales surged 496.6% on increasing server demand for AI services.
Imports rose 36.0% to $72.78 billion, after rising 26.0% in September, to post the biggest annual increase since January 2022.
The country's monthly trade balance stood at a surplus of $42.50 billion, narrower than a record $49.97 billion surplus in the previous month.
(Reporting by Jihoon Lee; Editing by Edmund Klamann and David Gregorio)