Domestic duty-free sales surpass 1 trillion won in February

Domestic duty-free sales in South Korea increased by 36.7% in February compared to the previous month, due to the resumption of short-term visas for Chinese tourists.

According to the Korean Duty-Free Shop Association on Monday, sales in domestic duty-free shops last month were 1,009 billion won ($777.6 million), up from 797.4 billion won ($614 million) in the previous month.

While the number of foreign visitors decreased by about 14.6% from 245,313 in January to 209,653 in February, foreign sales increased by about 50% to 894 billion won compared to the previous month's 596.4 billion won.

According to the duty-free industry, sales were relatively low in January due to restrictions on short-term visa issuance between Korea and China and lowered rebates paid to "baggage traders" or daigong, who purchase tax-free goods in Korea and sell them in China.

However, in February, with the resumption of short-term visa issuance between the two countries and the easing of quarantine measures in China, it appears that demand for cosmetics and daigong inflows increased, leading to an increase in foreign sales.

Write to Mi-Kyoung Lee at capital@hankyung.com