As direct purchases from overseas through online shopping malls, including China, increase, the amount of credit card expenditures abroad by residents in the second quarter (April-June) rose more than 3% compared to the previous quarter.
According to the 'Card overseas usage performance of residents in the second quarter' announced by the Bank of Korea on the 26th, the amount spent abroad using cards (credit, debit, prepaid) by domestic residents during this period was $5.52 billion, approximately 3.3% more than the first quarter ($5.35 billion). This increase was influenced by a rise in overseas direct purchases, despite a decrease in overseas travel.
According to the tourism knowledge information system of the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI), the number of outbound travelers from Korea decreased from 7.79 million in the first quarter to 6.77 million in the second quarter, a reduction of 13.2%.
In contrast, the amount of overseas direct purchases through online shopping increased by 15.2%, rising from $1.35 billion in the first quarter to $1.55 billion in the second quarter. Notably, overseas direct purchases from China amounted to $1.04 billion, reflecting an increase of 24.3% compared to the first quarter ($840 million).
Compared to the second quarter of last year ($5.19 billion), credit card expenditures abroad have grown by 6.5% in a year. By type of card, expenditures for credit cards ($3.807 billion) and debit cards ($1.716 billion) increased by 4.5% and 0.9%, respectively, compared to the previous quarter.
Meanwhile, the card usage performance of non-residents, including foreigners, reached an all-time high. In the second quarter, non-residents used $3.709 billion on cards domestically. This figure represents a 38.2% increase from $2.74 billion in the first quarter. The previous highest record was $3.38 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The ratio of domestic card expenditures by non-residents to overseas usage by residents (69%) also reached its highest level since the fourth quarter of 2016.