Increasing Overseas Travel... Card Spending Soars by 14.8%

On the 3rd, Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 was bustling with travelers preparing to depart for overseas trips. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

As countries around the world ease COVID-19 quarantine measures, demand for overseas travel has increased, resulting in nearly a 15% rise in residents' overseas card spending in the first quarter of this year compared to the previous quarter.

The Bank of Korea announced on the 31st that residents' overseas card usage (credit cards, check cards, and debit cards) in the first quarter of this year amounted to $4.6 billion, a 14.8% increase from $4.01 billion in the fourth quarter of last year.

Compared to the same period last year ($3.06 billion), it increased by 50.3%.

The Bank of Korea explained that the increase was due to the rise in the number of Korean outbound travelers amid growing overseas travel demand and an increase in direct overseas purchases through online shopping caused by the decline in the KRW-USD exchange rate.

The number of Korean outbound travelers increased by 55.2%, from 3.208 million in the fourth quarter of last year to 4.979 million in the first quarter of this year.

Also, the average daily KRW-USD exchange rate fell by 6.2%, from 1,359.3 won to 1,275.6 won during the same period. Accordingly, direct overseas purchase amounts through online shopping also rose by 26.7%, from $990 million to $1.25 billion.

By card type, credit card usage increased by 15.3%, check card usage rose by 13.7%, while debit card usage decreased by 4.5%.

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