SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's export declined for the first 10 days of January on soft demand for locally-made semiconductors, customs office data showed on Friday.

Export, which accounts for about half of the economy, reached 12.7 billion U.S. dollars in the January 1-10 period, down 7.5 percent from the same period of last year, according to Korea Customs Service.

The daily average export was 1.69 billion U.S. dollars in the cited period, down 7.5 percent from a year earlier.

The country's export topped 600 billion U.S.dollars last year for the first time in history, but the monthly export in the year showed a downward trend from September.

Chip export tumbled 27.2 percent in the Jan. 1-10 period on lower product price. The chip export declined 8.3 percent in December, the first reduction in 27 months.

Outbound shipment for oil product plunged 26.5 percent for the first 10 days of this month, but those for cars and telecommunication devices, such as smartphone, surged 127.7 percent and 23.5 percent, respectively.

By region, exports to the United States and the European Union (EU) rose in the 10-day period, but those to China and Vietnam declined.

Import reduced 6.8 percent over the year to 14.5 billion U.S. dollars in the Jan. 1-10 period, sending the trade deficit to 1.8 billion U.S. dollars.