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 [...]
SEOUL, March 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The loan exposure of nonbanking financial companies to real estate project financing (PF) has spiked to an alarming level in recent years, posing potential credit risks amid a decline in the housing market, industry data showed Sunday. The volume of exposure by insurance companies, securities firms, credit card companies [...]
SEOUL, March 24 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s overseas direct investment slightly increased in 2022 on-year to a fresh high on the back of the chips and automobile industries, although the overall growth was limited in the face of economic uncertainties, data showed Friday. The value of investments made overseas by South Korean companies reached [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Half of South Koreans viewed marriage as unessential and nearly 60 percent of those in their 10s and 20s said childbirth after marriage is not a must, a government report showed Thursday, illustrating the country’s demographic crisis amid a record-low birthrate. Only 50 percent of South Koreans aged 13 [...]
SEOUL, March 23 (Korea Bizwire) — The value of South Korean imports of Japanese seafood hit a 12-year high in 2022 on a surge in imports of expensive live fish, government data showed Thursday. Seoul imported US$174.2 million worth of fishery products from the neighboring country last year, up 12.2 percent from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, March 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of babies born in South Korea dipped to yet another fresh low in January, data showed Wednesday, reflecting the dire population crisis in Asia’s fourth-largest economy. Just 23,179 babies were born in January this year, sinking 6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from [...]
SEOUL, March 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Kooksoondang Brewery Co. said Tuesday its annual exports hit a record high last year thanks to the growing global popularity of the Korean traditional liquor “makgeolli.” Makgeolli is a traditional Korean rice liquor known for its cloudy, milky appearance. The Korean brewer said it posted US$10.7 million in exports [...]