South Korea's trade surplus in the information technology (IT) sector hit a new high last month due to steeper fall in imports that offset a slight rise in exports, a government report showed Thursday.

Trade surplus in the IT industry reached 7.41 billion U.S. dollars in September, topping the previous record high of 7.18 billion dollars tallied in the October 2010, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

Exports of locally-manufactured IT products expanded 0.3 percent on-year to 14.08 billion dollars in September, but imports declined 4 percent to 6.67 billion dollars over the same period.

Exports of IT products kept its growth trend for two straight months, in contrast to the overall industry that saw its exports continue to decline until recently. The September export figure marked the second-largest since 14.1 billion dollars was tallied in October 2010.

The relatively positive figure for exports was mainly attributed to solid demand for handsets, display panels and system chips, the ministry said.

Handset exports expanded 7.6 percent on-year to 2.19 billion dollars in September. Brisk sales of smartphones such as Galaxy S3 and Optimus led the September IT exports. South Korea ranked first in terms of global market share of smartphone for five straight quarters in the second quarter.

Exports of semiconductors retreated 2.6 percent to 4.47 billion dollars last month, but the reading recorded the largest this year due to solid demand for system chips. Shipment of memory chips tumbled 15.7 percent to 1.57 billion dollars, but exports of system chips advanced 8.8 percent to 2.32 billion dollars.

Shipment of display panels grew 1.5 percent to 2.8 billion dollars over the cited period, keeping a growth trend for three straight months. The growth was attributed to global price stabilization and rising demand in China.

Exports of computer and computer-related products such as printers and monitors declined 16.2 percent to 610 million dollars last month due to the global market slump. Outbound shipment of TVs dropped 20.9 percent to 610 million dollars in September amid weak demand for TV globally.

By country, exports to China, including Hong Kong, grew 5.9 percent to 7.06 billion dollars in September, with shipment to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the European Union expanding 6.3 percent and 12.7 percent respectively.

Shipment to Japan declined 2.5 percent to 660 million dollars over the same period, and exports to the United States tumbled 21 percent to 1.23 billion dollars.