SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export of the information and communications technology (ICT) products kept growing for four straight months through September on a partial global recovery from the COVID-19 outbreak, a government report showed Thursday.

The ICT export expanded 11.9 percent over the year to 17.63 billion U.S. dollars in September, continuing to increase since June, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The ICT import rose 9.0 percent to 9.56 billion dollars in the month, sending the trade surplus to 8.07 billion dollars.

The double-digit export growth was attributable to the partial recovery in global demand for locally-made products.

Semiconductor export jumped 11.9 percent in September from a year earlier, and display panel shipment grew 2.7 percent last month.

Export for computers and peripherals surged 62.7 percent in the month. Demand stayed strong as people preferred to work at home and attend online classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mobile phone shipment retreated 25.7 percent in September from a year ago.

The ICT export to China, South Korea's biggest trading partner, amounted to 8.17 billion dollars in September.

It was followed by 3.11 billion dollars in export to Vietnam, 2.04 billion dollars to the United States and 1.07 billion dollars to the European Union respectively.