Last year, Korea residents' card spending overseas hit a record high. As overseas travel and online direct purchases increased, card spending appears to have risen.
According to "Residents' overseas card usage in 2025," released by the Bank of Korea on the 25th, last year's overseas spending on cards (credit and debit) by domestic residents totaled $22.91 billion. That was up 5.5% from 2024 ($21.72 billion), a record high.
Overseas card spending by citizens rose for five straight years, from $10.31 billion in 2020 to $12.23 billion in 2021, $14.543 billion in 2022, $19.2222 billion in 2023, and $21.721 billion in 2024.
This upward trend appears to be driven by increased demand for overseas travel and the expansion of direct purchases from abroad by citizens. According to the Bank of Korea (BOK), the number of citizens departing the country rose from 28.69 million in 2024 to 29.55 million last year. During the same period, online shopping direct purchases from overseas increased from $5.92 billion to $5.98 billion.
By card type, credit card spending rose 1.3% from a year earlier to $15.693 billion, while debit card spending increased 15.7% to $7.215 billion.
Meanwhile, last year overseas residents spent $14.08 billion using cards in Korea. That was up 18.2% from 2024 ($11.91 billion), also marking a record high.