COVID-19 Resurgence Consumer Shock... Seoul Self-Employed Sales Down 25%

Secluded Youth Street Restaurant Area in Jongno-gu, Seoul
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Eun-byeol] The consumption shock caused by the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is gradually increasing.

According to the government and industry on the 30th, the domestic card approval amount in the third week of August (17-23), when 200 to 300 new COVID-19 cases were reported daily, increased by only 0.8% compared to the previous year. Card usage increased by 2.8% in the first week of August and rose to 10.4% in the second week.

Since the social distancing level 2 measures were expanded nationwide from the 23rd, card usage in the fourth week of August is highly likely to fall into the negative.

Self-employed sales were also hit. According to Korea Credit Data, which manages card payment information of small business owners, sales of small business owners in Seoul in the third week of this month decreased by 24.7% compared to the same period last year. The decline widened significantly compared to the second week of August (-6.9%) and is the largest drop since sales fell by 25.3% during February 24 to March 1, when COVID-19 first spread.

Visitors to amusement parks and moviegoers also sharply decreased. Lotte World was closed on the 16th after it was confirmed that a COVID-19 patient had visited, and Seoul Land and Caribbean Bay temporarily closed their facilities from the 19th.

According to the Korean Film Council, the number of domestic moviegoers last weekend was only 370,468, which is 19.8% of the 1,872,905 visitors during the same weekend last year. The number of people not even going out is also increasing. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the use of public transportation, including buses, subways, and taxis, decreased by 19.2% last weekend (22-23) compared to the previous weekend.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.