SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping in South Korea surged 6.3 percent on-year in January as the purchase of travel services more than doubled on eased COVID-19 restrictions around the globe, data showed Friday. The value of online shopping transactions amounted to 17.91 trillion won (US$13.64 billion) last month, compared with 16.8 trillion [...]
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of skincare devices hit a fresh high in 2022, data showed Friday, as people around the globe spent more money on beauty products amid eased social distancing rules. Exports of skincare devices, including light-emitting diode (LED) masks and massage tools, reached US$353 million last year, up [...]
SEOUL, March 3 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of startups in South Korea fell more than 7 percent in 2022 from a year earlier amid a sluggish property market, government data showed Friday. A total of 1.317 million new companies were set up in the country last year, down 7.1 percent from a year earlier, [...]
SEOUL, March 2 (Korea Bizwire) — The value of foreign securities held by South Korean institutions fell in 2022 due to losses from heightened global market volatility, data showed Thursday. The outstanding amount of foreign securities held by institutional investors is estimated at US$365.29 billion as of the end of December, down from the previous [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — The average monthly salary of wage earners in South Korea rose 4.1 percent on-year in 2021, data showed Tuesday, on the back of higher salaries in the finance and energy industries. Wage earners in Asia’s fourth-largest economy took home a monthly average of 3.3 million won (US$2,669) in December [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans’ overseas card spending swelled nearly 19 percent in 2022 on the back of eased COVID-19 curbs, central bank data showed Tuesday. The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to US$14.54 billion last year, up 18.9 percent from [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans’ direct purchases of foreign goods hit a fresh record high last year, data showed Tuesday, on the back of stronger demand for dietary supplements and electronics. South Korean shoppers bought a total of US$4.72 billion worth of foreign goods directly from overseas in 2022, compared with $4.65 [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of initial public offerings (IPOs) and the amount of funds raised from the process in 2022 decreased sharply due to market uncertainty caused by inflation and monetary tightening in major countries, data showed Monday. A total of 70 companies made their debuts on the main KOSPI and [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s total arable land decreased for the 10th consecutive year in 2022 as people consumed less rice, leading to an overall contraction of rice paddies, data showed Monday. The country’s arable land totaled 1.52 million hectares — slightly bigger than the size of the U.S. state of Connecticut [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — Retail sales in South Korea grew 4 percent on-year in January, though offline retailers saw their sales fall due to the New Year’s holiday and amid an economic slowdown, data has showed. The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to 14.7 trillion won (US$11.19 billion) [...]