Restaurants Sales Plummet Due to Fresh Lockdown

The tougher lockdown has been devastating for the vulnerable hospitality industry, and things are just as miserable for restaurants as they were in March.

Korea Credit Data, which manages credit-card transactions for 660,000 small businesses, said Wednesday that their sales plummeted 22 percent on-year in the third week of November, when the lockdown was tightened in the capital region.

During the previous week they were only 14 percent lower than at the same time last year.

Restaurants that are forced to close at 9 p.m. saw sales plummet 34 percent on Nov. 23-29 and 37 percent from Nov. 30-Dec. 6. During the first wave of the pandemic in late February, restaurant sales plunged 41 percent.

A KCD staffer said, "This is the direct result of the curfew as well as a severe weakening of consumer sentiment."