South Korea's exports fell 5.9% last year from a year earlier due largely to a drop in global demand and weak oil prices, government data showed Sunday. 
The country's exports reached US$495.5 billion in 2016, while its imports dropped 7.1% on-year to $405.7 billion, according to the data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, according to S Korea's (Yonhap) news agency. 
Its trade surplus stood at $89.8 billion last year, down slightly from $90.3 billion tallied in 2015, the data showed. 
It is the first time in 58 years that South Korea's exports finished in negative terrain two years in a row. 
The country's exports had been in a deep slump for the 19th consecutive month since January 2015, but they started to show some signs of recovery in November when they logged a 2.5 % gain. 
All key exporting items except for personal computers posted minus growth in exports last year, hit hard by the global economic downturn. 
During the October-December period, exports rose 1.9% on-year, making the first plus figure in two years on the back of a 10.7 % gain in chips and a 3.4% rise in steel. 
In December, meanwhile, Asia's fourth-largest economy saw its outbound shipments jump 6.4% on-year to $45.1 billion, marking the second straight positive monthly figure for the first time in 26 months. 
Imports also rose 7.3 % on-year to $38.1 billion last month, with a trade surplus coming in at $7 billion. 
Daily exports rose 4.2 % on-year to reach $1.75 billion last month, marking the first plus figure in 22 months. 
Exports to China gained 9.6 % to a 14-month high of $12 billion last month, following a 0.4 % gain in November, on economic recovery in the world's second-largest economy. 
For next year, the trade ministry forecast that South Korea's exports will rise 2.9 % on the back of a global economic recovery and rising demand for key items such as flat screens and chips. Imports will likely expand 7.2 % next year, with a trade surplus reaching $74 billion.