SOUTH KOREA. Countrywide duty-free retail sales (excluding inflight) fell -5.25% year-on-year in April (but grew +9.25% month-on-month) to KRW1,184,860,335,817 (US$873.5 million).
This was despite a near +4% hike in customer numbers over April 2024 (+7.2% month-on-month) to 2,429,724, according to latest Korea Duty Free Association statistics, underlining the erosion of the formerly all-important reseller business
April sales to foreigners fell -5.75% year-on-year (but rose +10.3% month-on-month) to KRW937,774,159,481 (US$691,339,338).
The year-on-year revenue decline came despite a sharp +20.7% rise in customer numbers over April 2024 (+13.8% month-on-month) to 963,275.
Sales to Koreans fell -3.3% year-on-year (+5.6% month-on-month) to KRW247,086,176,336 (US$182.2 million) on customer numbers that slipped -4.7% year-on-year (+3.3% month-on-month) to 1,420,071. ✈
