SEOUL South Korean exports in the first 20 days of May fell 16.1% from a year earlier and imports dropped by 15.3%, customs agency data showed on Monday.

The country's trade balance came in at a $4.3 billion deficit for the May 1-20 period, the data showed.

That compares with a 14.2% decline in exports for the whole of April.

South Korea's heavily trade-dependant economy has been hit hard by faltering global demand. Exports have declined in each of the past seven months on an annual basis, their longest losing streak in three years.

(Reporting by Choonsik Yoo; Editing by Tom Hogue and Kim Coghill)