Koreans Spend Less Overseas

Koreans' card spending overseas continued to decline in the second quarter of the year, mainly because fewer can afford to travel abroad.

Total spending overseas on credit and debit cards amounted to US$4.67 billion during the April-June period, according to the Bank of Korea on Thursday, down 0.1 percent from $4.68 billion in the first quarter, when it also fell 3.3 percent from the previous quarter.

In the first quarter of last year, Koreans spent a record $5.07 billion abroad.

The central bank blamed a shrinking number of travelers. A total of 7.14 million people traveled overseas in the second quarter, down 9.2 percent on-quarter, according to the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.

Card spending overseas also includes online shopping on websites based abroad. And while the spending amount dwindled, the amount of cards used grew 1.9 percent to 17.38 million.