South Korea‘s exports are showing signs of a rebound after a lengthy slide, as the Korea Customs Service (KCS) said Sunday that the nation’s overseas shipments in the first 10 days of June rose 5.7 percent on-year to US$13.88 billion.

The export volume has fallen for 17 months in a row since January 2015, marking the longest streak of decline since the government began compiling monthly export statistics in 1970.

But the first 10 days of exports have risen for the second consecutive month this month, raising hope for an end to the prolonged downturn in overseas shipment.

The nation‘s exports continued to dwindle from a year earlier in May, but the rate of drop slowed significantly. Outbound shipments came to $39.78 billion last month, down 6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The 6 percent on-year decline was the least since the start of the year. In January, exports plunged 18.5 percent, the most since August 2009. (Yonhap)