S.Korea’s overseas online shopping surpasses $1.3 bn in Q2 2023

South Korea's overseas online shopping through Chinese malls in the second quarter of this year has more than doubled compared to a year ago.

According to the "Online Shopping in June 2023" released by Statistics Korea on Tuesday, the total amount of overseas direct purchases in the April to June period (2nd quarter) amounted to 1,635 billion won ($1.27 billion), showing a 25.6% increase compared to the same period last year.

By region, direct purchases through Chinese shopping malls were the highest. In the second quarter of this year, direct purchases from China amounted to 777.8 billion won ($606.4 million), representing a sharp increase of 120.7% from the same period a year ago.

Direct purchases from Japan reached 117.7 billion won ($91.7 million), a 13.5% increase from the second quarter of last year. The rise in direct purchases was centered around clothing and fashion-related items. The recent depreciation of the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan against the Korean won also had some impact on this trend, according to the report.

On the other hand, direct purchases from the United States decreased by 8.3% to 469.6 billion won ($366.1 million) compared to a year ago. Direct purchases from ASEAN countries and the Middle East also decreased by 9.9% (19.4 billion won or $15.1 million) and 16.5% (700 million won or $545,800), respectively.

Meanwhile, the size of overseas online reverse-direct purchases (when overseas consumers purchase from Korean online shopping malls) during the second quarter of this year decreased by 10.3% to 453.6 billion won ($353.7 million) compared to the same period last year.

Direct sales to the United States increased by 14.5% (60 billion won or $46.8 million), but those to China (309.2 billion won or $241.1 million) and Japan (51.5 billion won or $40.1 million) decreased by 10.9% and 17.8%, respectively. This decrease was attributed to an 8.1% drop in cosmetics sales compared to the second quarter of last year. An official from the statistical agency explained that there has been a significant decline in bulk purchases of cosmetics by Chinese daigong (small traders) recently.

However, overseas direct sales have increased by 59.8% compared to the previous quarter. Cosmetics direct sales also increased by 103.8% compared to the first quarter.

Write to Se-Min Huh at semin@hankyung.com