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Economy

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

The number of outbound travelers more than doubles in Q3; spending on cross-border shopping falls due to weaker won

By Nov 29, 2022 (Gmt+09:00)

1 Min read

Departure hall at Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main gateway (Courtesy of Yonhap)
Departure hall at Incheon International Airport, South Korea’s main gateway (Courtesy of Yonhap)

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.
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