Retail in Asia

Featured

Online payment for overseas purchases in South Korea increased 19.6 percent in Q2

In the second quarter of 2022, Koreans made fewer overseas direct purchases online compared to the previous quarter because of unfavorable KRW/USD currency rate.

As reported by the Bank of Korea, the amount generated by domestic residents’ card usage (credit, checks, debit) overseas accumulated to USD 3.662 billion (KRW 4.922.3 trillion) in the second quarter of 2022. There was a 19.6 percent increase from the first quarter (USD 3.062 billion), and a 8.6 percent increase compared to the same quarter last year (USD 3.373 billion).

SEE ALSO: South Korean retail sales up 9.3 percent in H1

The increase in card usage overseas can be attributed to the increase in outbound travellers. Compared with the first quarter, the number of outbound travel increased by 132.7 percent to 944,000. In the first quarter of this year, credit card (USD 2.777 billion) and debit card usage (USD 870 million) increased 23.6 percent and 9.0 percent respectively.

Card usage by foreigners entering Korea from abroad also increased by 45.1 percent from the first quarter to USD 1,287 billion. Even though inbound travelling was hit by the pandemic in the first quarter of 2022 (with a drop of card usage by foreigners to USD 887 million; -11.8 percent VS 2021 Q4), the numbers started picking up again in the second quarter following the lifted quarantine measures.