South Korea's exports of food and agricultural products topped 5 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months of this year due to solid demand from emerging countries, a government report showed Monday.
Overseas shipments of food and farm goods amounted to 5.29 billion dollars during the January-September period, up 30.4 percent from the same period of last year, the Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said in a statement.
The food and farm export growth was faster than last year when the overseas shipments exceeded the 5 billion-dollar mark in November. The ministry expected the nation's farm exports to reach this year's target of 7.6 billion dollars if the growth trend continues.
The sustained export growth was mainly attributed to brisk demand from emerging countries such as China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries, the ministry said./.