SOUTH KOREA. “Sales to foreigner sales continued their sustained stagnation while Korean purchases picked up slightly from April.”
That was the pithy take on May’s Korean duty-free sales market results from a Seoul-based travel retailer as the Korea Duty Free Association revealed nationwide revenues (excluding inflight retail) for the month.
Total sales dipped almost -0.7% over April (but rose +5.62% year-on-year) to KRW1,111,654,004,822 (US$761.7 million).
Customer numbers were up +1.9% month-on-month and +1.8% year-on-year to 2,618,794.
Breaking down the results, sales to foreigners eased -2.5% month-by-month to KRW857,038,129,598 (US$587.2 million), a +10.7% increase over May 2025. Foreign customer numbers reached 1,229,264, up almost +3.0% over the previous month and +28.5% year-on-year.
Sales to Koreans increased +6.2% month-on-month but declined -8.6% compared to May 2025 to KRW254,615,875,224 (US$174.5 million) on a +1% uplift in shopper numbers over April 2026 (-14.0% year-on-year).
Foreign shoppers dominate downtown sector but spend softens
Downtown duty-free sales eased almost -0.2% compared with the previous month to KRW829,708,399,517 (US$568.5 million) but rose almost +6.9% year-on-year. Customer numbers rose +4.0% over April 2026 and +7.2% year-on-year.
As always, the real story within those figures relates to overseas (mainly Chinese) shoppers. International customers accounted for an overwhelmingly dominant 85.7% of total downtown sales on just 51.5% of the shopper mix.
Sales to foreigners in May reached KRW711,116,756,173 (US$487.2 million), -1.5% lower than the previous month but up +9.1% year-on-year.
Foreign customer numbers in the downtown channel tallied 541,251, up +3.4% month-on-month and +33.1% year-on-year, underlining a softening spend per head.
Airport shopper numbers rise from April but sales ease
Results from the airport departures duty-free sector show May revenues of KRW236,162,895,872 (US$161.8 million), down -3.1% on April but +3.5% ahead year-on-year. Shopper numbers reached 1,187,738, up +2.0% month-on-month and +2.4% over May 2025.
Foreigners represented 56.4% of the customer mix but a much larger 61.0% of sales, again underlining their much higher average spend per head. Sales to overseas shoppers in airport departures fell -7.6% month-on-month in May but rose +19.1% year-on-year.
Sales to Korean customers reached KRW92,022,452,200 (almost US$63.1 million), a +4.9% gain month-on-month but a -14.1% decline over May 2025. Customer numbers edged ahead +1.2% over the previous month but declined -17.1% year-on-year. ✈
{Click on the YouTube icon to view Maeil Broadcasting Network News’ recent report on the remarkable 2026 surge in tourist shopping at Korean department stores, as opposed to duty-free shops}
