Korean overseas card spending near 3-year high on resurgence in travel

Overseas card spending by residents in South Korea rose to a nearly three-year high in the third quarter as international travel surged with countries worldwide opening up their borders amid the waning COVID-19.

The amount spent overseas by residents with cards, including credit and debit cards, totaled $3.8 billion in the July-September period, the largest since the fourth quarter of 2019, central bank data showed on Tuesday. The latest spending was up 32.6% from a year earlier and 4.1% from the previous three months.

“Locals who departed the country increased as countries worldwide eased their entry restrictions related to COVID-19,” said the Bank of Korea in a statement.

The number of outbound travelers more than doubled to 2 million in the third quarter from 944,000 in the April-June period, according to the central bank.

Card spending on cross-border shopping, however, fell as the South Korean won currency weakened, boosting the prices of items abroad.

Payments for purchases on overseas online shopping malls skidded 5.5% to $980 million in the third quarter from the prior three months.

The won depreciated 5.8% against the dollar on average in the July-September period from the second quarter.

Write to Mi-Hyun Jo at mwise@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.