Foreigners’ card spending in South Korea hits quarterly record of $4.86 billion

Foreign visitors helped push card spending in South Korea to a new quarterly high. Nonresidents used South Korean credit and debit cards for $4.86 billion in the second quarter, according to data released by the Bank of Korea on the second day of the month.

The figure rose 36.1% from the first quarter and comfortably exceeded the previous record of $3.79 billion, set in the second quarter of the previous year. The number of cards used by nonresidents also increased, rising 34.3% to 25.02 million. Average spending per card edged up from $192 to $194.

Jeong Hwi-chae, a senior official on the Bank of Korea’s capital movement analysis team, attributed the increase to the growing number of foreign tourists entering the country. Foreign tourist arrivals rose from 4.76 million in the first quarter to 5.97 million in the second quarter.

Spending abroad by South Korean residents moved in the opposite direction. Residents used cards overseas for $5.85 billion, down 4.2% from the first quarter but up 5.9% from the same period a year earlier. Both credit card spending and debit card spending declined from the previous quarter, by 0.6% and 11.5%, respectively.

The Bank of Korea said the decline reflected a drop in travel-related spending as fewer South Koreans left the country, even though direct overseas purchases through online shopping increased. Departures fell 20.4%, from 8.331 million in the first quarter to 6.631 million in the second. Online purchases from overseas rose 4.3%, from $1.35 billion to $1.41 billion.

“

This appears to be due to the increase in foreign tourists entering the country.