In the previous month, foreign tourists' card payment amount for expenditure in Korea exceeded 2 trillion won. It is the first time that monthly card spending by foreign tourists has surpassed 2 trillion won.
The Korea Tourism Organization said on the 17th that an analysis of foreign card spending big data from the Korea Tourism Data Lab found that foreign tourists' domestic card expenditure in May 2026 reached 2.1222 trillion won. That was up 67.1% from expenditure of 1.2702 trillion won a year earlier.
The increase in foreign tourists' expenditure was driven by Chinese tourists. Card spending by Chinese tourists had risen every month this year and jumped 214% in May from a year earlier.
As Chinese tourists increased their consumption expenditure, sales of high-end luxury categories such as watches and jewelry (+69.7%) and accessories (+87.0%) rose sharply. In Cheongdam-dong, Seoul, where luxury stores are concentrated, watches and jewelry grew 135.0% from a year earlier, and accessories grew 197.7%. The average price per transaction in the watches and jewelry category reached 12.15 million won.
By industry, growth was strong in ▲ shopping (+77.8%) ▲ transportation (+70.6%) ▲ medical wellness (+65.8%) ▲ food and beverage (+64.9%). In detailed sectors, high growth rates were recorded in ▲ pharmacies (+206.1%) ▲ toys and gaming devices (+191.4%) ▲ skin care and massage (+153.9%) ▲ department stores (+89.2%) ▲ duty-free shops (+87.6%) ▲ accessories (+87.0%) ▲ dermatology clinics (+85.5%) ▲ sporting goods and apparel (+84.5%).
On the trend side, increased pharmacy spending linked to dermatology procedures stood out. Linked consumption has spread in which people buy pharmaceutical-grade regenerative creams at pharmacies after cosmetic procedures. Premium pharmacies across Seongsu-dong, such as Seongsu 2(i)-ga 1-dong (+15249%) and Seongsu 2(i)-ga 3-dong (+2877%), posted unusual growth, and a similar consumption pattern appeared in U 1-dong, Haeundae-gu, Busan (+12828%), indicating the trend is spreading to the provinces, the tourism organization said.
The "toys and gaming devices" sector, which nearly tripled from a year earlier, is analyzed as the result of concentrated purchases of limited-edition goods at global character IP pop-up stores. An official at the tourism organization said, "It is presumed that spending focused on goods such as LINE FRIENDS, BT21 collaboration pop-up stores, Pokémon cards, and figures."
On Jeju Island, spending on luxury resorts increased. In Daeryun-dong, Seogwipo, Jeju, condominium sales surged 193.1% as demand flowed to stand-alone pool villas and luxury townhouses.