SEOUL, May 24 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports of products in new industries grew at a faster rate than the overall exports in the first quarter, a government report showed Thursday.
Exports in 12 new industries reached 20.42 billion U.S. dollars in the January-March quarter, up 35 percent from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
It more than tripled the export growth rate of 10.1 percent in all industries during the quarter. Outbound shipments in the new industries accounted for 14 percent of the overall exports.
The 12 new industries refer to electric car, robot, bio health, aerospace, new energy, new material, next-generations of display panel and semiconductor.
Electric car shipments almost tripled in the first quarter, while the figures for bio health and new energy recorded a double-digit increase. Next-generational display panel exports expanded 3.2 percent.
By region, new industries exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India surged by more than 50 percent, with those to the European Union jumped 45.7 percent.
The shipment to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, gained 19.7 percent in the quarter.
