S.Korea's golf industry market exceeds $15 bn in value: report

The value of South Korea's golf industry market last year exceeded 20 trillion won ($15 billion).

A report by the Daejeon-based Yuwon Golf Foundation on Wednesday said the market last year reached 20.6 trillion won in value, up 5.8 trillion won from 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic occurred.

The industry's main sector of direct participation in golf or competition attendance was worth 8.3 trillion won, or 40.4% of the market. Of this amount, revenue from transactions for direct participation in the sport was 5.1 trillion won, up 10% from 4.6 trillion won in 2021, but this year-on-year growth was down from 16% in 2020 and 27% in 2021.

The screen golf market also posted steady growth from 1.5 trillion won in 2020 to 1.8 trillion in 2021, up 19%, and 2.1 trillion last year, up 21%.

"As green fees shot up due to surging demand for golf, demand for playing golf on a course shifted to that for screen golf," a foundation researcher said. "Field and screen golf are partners, not substitutes."

The main sector of golf equipment, tourism and facilities was worth 12.3 trillion won, accounting for 59.6% of the market.

“The domestic golf industry, which greatly raised prices during the pandemic, must now compete with global competitors such as golf courses in Southeast Asia and Japan as well as prepare for a decrease in players due to the country's population decline,” said Kang Joon-ho, director of the Sports Industry Institute of Seoul National University.

Write to Su-Young Jo at delinews@hankyung.com