SEOUL, July 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's exports, which account for about half of the export-driven economy, inched down 0.09 percent in June year-on-year at 51.23 billion U.S. dollars, a government report showed Sunday.

Despite the slight fall, the country's exports topped 50 billion dollars for the fourth consecutive month for the first time, according to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The exports, which fell 1.5 percent in April, rebounded 13.5 percent in May. In June, the figure was almost unchanged.

The slight fall in June came as the number of business days reduced by 1.5 days compared with last year.

The daily average export, which excludes the business day effect, was 2.38 billion dollars in June. It was the second-biggest daily export ever recorded by the South Korean economy.

Imports advanced 10.7 percent from a year earlier to 44.91 billion dollars, sending the trade surplus to 6.32 billion dollars. The trade balance stayed in the black for 77 straight months.