Shipping containers are stacked at a port in Busan, Aug. 1. Yonhap

Korea racked up a current account surplus for the third consecutive month in July, driven by robust exports, central bank data showed Friday.

The country's current account surplus reached $9.13 billion in July, marking a surplus for the third consecutive month, according to data compiled by the Bank of Korea.

The July surplus was smaller than the previous month's $12.56 billion, the largest since September 2017.

The country's goods account racked up an $8.49 billion surplus in July following a $11.74 billion surplus the previous month.

The nation's outbound shipments rose 16.7 percent on-year in July to $58.64 billion, while imports increased 9.4 percent over the cited period to $50.14 billion, according to the central bank's data.

The primary income account, which tracks the wages of foreign workers, dividend payments from overseas and interest income, reported a $3.15 billion surplus in July, following a $2.71 billion surplus the previous month, the data showed.

The services account deficit widened to $2.38 billion in July from a deficit of $1.6 billion the previous month, they showed. (Yonhap)