South Korea's exports posted a double-digit fall last month, keeping the longest monthly decline for 16 months in a row, a government report showed on Sunday.

Exports, which account for about half of the economy, slumped 11.2 percent over a year earlier to 41 billion U.S. dollars in April, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The falling rate slowed down from 18.9 percent in January to 12.2 percent in February and 8.1 percent in March each, but it resumed a double-digit reduction in just two months.

It marked the country's longest monthly slide in exports for 16 months in a row, topping the previous high of 13 months tallied from March 2001 to March 2002.

Trade surplus reached 8.8 billion dollars in April, staying in the black for 51 months from February 2012 thanks to faster fall imports than exports.

Imports plunged 14.9 percent from a year earlier to 32.2 billion dollars in April. Both exports and imports declined for 16 straight months.

Source: XINHUA