"Three Years of COVID-19 Impact on Home Appliances, Furniture, Automobiles, Apparel, and Miscellaneous Goods" Gyeonggi Research Institute

Trends in Credit Card Sales in Gyeonggi Province Over the 3 Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic Data provided by Gyeonggi Research Institute

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Over the three years since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020, credit card sales in the Gyeonggi region have steadily increased each year, with high growth rates in sales for fuel, sports·culture·leisure, and travel·transport sectors, according to a research report.

The Gyeonggi Research Institute published a report titled "Three Years of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Trends and Implications of Credit Card Sales in Gyeonggi Province" on the 14th, containing these findings.

The report comprehensively analyzed sales fluctuations of small business owners in Gyeonggi Province by utilizing daily estimated sales data from Shinhan Card offline merchants in the region from January 2020 to October 2022.

The analysis showed that credit card sales sharply declined and then recovered repeatedly during five waves of the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in a 7.9% increase in average monthly sales in 2022 compared to early 2020 when the pandemic first occurred.

By sector, the average monthly sales growth rates were high in fuel (+36.1%), sports·culture·leisure (+20.4%), and travel·transport (+11.9%) industries.

This was attributed to increased mobility and revived consumer sentiment following the lifting of social distancing measures, which led to explosive growth in demand for travel and leisure reflected in sales.

The food service and entertainment sectors, which experienced significant sales declines due to COVID-19, also saw a 7.6% increase in average monthly sales during the same period. In the beauty sector, sales in May 2020 surged significantly due to the distribution of disaster basic income, marking the highest sales in the past three years.

Conversely, sales in the home appliances·furniture (-17.4%), automobile (-2.9%), and clothing·accessories (-1.1%) sectors decreased during the same period. It is estimated that these sectors experienced temporary sales increases due to COVID-19-related demand and government support policies linked to the spread of non-face-to-face lifestyles, followed by subsequent declines.

The institute suggested that in preparation for the deepening economic slowdown, Gyeonggi Province should consider support measures to offset the sales slump of small business owners, emphasizing the need for clear policy targets and designs aligned with those goals.

Choi Hoon, a research fellow at the Gyeonggi Research Institute, stated, "If the policy goal is to support 'households' that suffered income shocks due to COVID-19, substantial income compensation for affected households is necessary. If the goal is to support 'affected small business owners,' direct support methods should be considered rather than indirect support through consumers."

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