South Korean government data released on Monday showed that exports rose 9.5 per cent in February from a year earlier to $44.81 billion, down from 11.4 per cent in January but in line with market expectations.

This is the fourth month in a row that South Korean exports have grown, thanks to continued growth in exports of memory chips and cars.

Excluding the impact that the Spring Festival holiday reduced the working day by three days compared with the same period last year, South Korea's average daily exports surged 26.4% in February compared with the same period last year.

By export category, semiconductor exports increased by 13.2% for the eighth month in a row, while exports of automobiles, petrochemical products and biological health products soared by 47%, 22.4% and 62.5%, respectively.

By export destination, exports to China, the United States and the European Union increased by 26.5 percent, 7.9 percent and 48.2 percent respectively.

The data also showed that South Korean imports rose 13.9 per cent to $42.11 billion in February. The trade surplus narrowed to $2.71 billion from $3.76 billion in January.