Credit card overseas spending by South Koreans reached a fresh record high in the third quarter in line with the surge in the number of overseas travelers making most of a rare ten-day holiday early October.
According to data released by the Bank of Korea (BOK) on Tuesday, South Koreans spent $4.4 billion using their credit, debit and direct payment cards in foreign countries in the July-September period, up 4.9 percent from the previous record high of $4.2 billion in the second quarter ended June.
The rise in overseas card payment is largely due to a growing number of travelers going overseas for their vacation. According to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute, the number of outbound travelers in the third quarter totaled 7.01 million, up 14.8 percent from the previous quarter.
The amount of card spending by foreigners visiting Korea reached $2.1 billion, up 11.7 percent from a quarter earlier but down 23.6 percent from a year ago, BOK data showed. Card spending by foreigners in the second and third quarter reached below the last year’s quarterly average of $2.7 billion due to the decrease in the number of Chinese travelers after the Chinese government banned group tours to Korea in retaliation for Seoul’s deployment of a U.S. antimissile system.
By Kim In-oh and Choi Mira
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]