SEOUL, April 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Major South Korean companies’ inventories surged nearly 30 percent in 2022 from a year earlier amid a global economic slump, a corporate tracker said Tuesday. Combined inventories of 212 out of the country’s top 500 firms by sales reached 175.5 trillion won (US$134 billion) as of end-December last year, [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Sales of smartphones in South Korea fell 6 percent last year from a year earlier amid an economic slowdown, industry data showed Monday. Samsung Electronics Co., the world’s leading smartphone maker, saw its smartphone sales decline 2 percent on-year in its home country in 2022, while sales of Apple [...]
SEOUL, April 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea rose 7.5 percent on-year in February on the back of the surge in demand for travel services on growing outdoor activities following eased COVID-19 restrictions, data showed Monday. The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 16.94 trillion won (US$12.85 billion) last month, compared [...]
SEOUL, April 2 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean exporting companies saved 6.6 trillion won (US$5.8 billion) due to lower tariffs in 2021 thanks to the country’s free trade agreements (FTAs) with six major economies, including the United States and the European Union, government data showed Sunday. According to the trade data compiled by the Ministry [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — Rice production costs in South Korea rose 9.3 percent on-year in 2022 due mainly to soaring prices of fertilizers, causing net profit from rice farming to sink nearly 40 percent, data showed Thursday. Farmers spent 31,631 won (US$24.24) to produce 20 kilograms of rice last year, up 2,689 won [...]
SEOUL, March 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of instant noodles reached an all-time high in 2022, boosted by the global popularity of Korean food and culture, data showed Thursday. The country exported US$862 million worth of noodles, including instant noodles, or “ramyeon” in Korean, and udon noodles, last year, up 12 percent from [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) – The amount of daily payments made with cards in South Korea grew about 13 percent last year as eased coronavirus-related restrictions boosted consumption, central bank data showed Wednesday. Spending made with credit, debit and prepaid cards reached a daily average of 3.1 trillion won (US$2.4 billion) in 2022, up [...]
SEOUL, March 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Debt held by South Korean wage workers in their 20s jumped 15 percent on-year in 2021, much higher than 7 percent growth on average for all wage workers, data showed Tuesday. Bank and nonbank loans extended to paid workers in the country averaged 52.02 million won (US$40,107) per person [...]
SEOUL, March 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea grew 7.9 percent on-year in February on rising demand for fashion, tourism and other items as people increasingly adapted to post-pandemic life amid eased antivirus restrictions, the industry ministry said Tuesday. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 13.1 [...]
SEOUL, March 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s duty-free sales rose nearly 37 percent on-month in February, industry data showed Monday, as China resumed short-term entry for Korean travelers. Combined sales at duty-free shops in Asia’s fourth-largest economy came to 1.09 trillion won (US$837.4 million) last month, up 36.7 percent from a month earlier, according [...]