SEOUL, May 19 (Korea Bizwire) — “Generation MZ,” a Korean term referring to those aged between late 10s and 30s, is a group of frugal individuals who frequently utilize convenience stores but when it comes to health and self-development, they don’t hesitate to splurge, a credit card company said Thursday. Shinhan Card Co. analyzed the [...]
SEOUL, April 26 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s rate hike measures have weighed heavily on people’s spending, particularly impacting those in their 20s and 30s who have debt, a state-run think tank said Wednesday. A 1 percentage-point hike in the key rate led to a decrease of 132,000 won (US$98.7) in annual spending of South [...]
SEOUL, April 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are spending more on pets every year, data showed Monday. According to Shinhan Card Co., a major credit card company, card spending per capita among its customers at animal hospitals, animal cafes, and animal salons amounted to 353,000 won (US$267) last year. The amount was higher than [...]
SEOUL, March 29 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will temporarily exempt people from 22 visa-waiver nations, including the United States, Japan and Taiwan, from mandatory online travel permits and transit visa requirements as part of efforts to attract more foreign tourists and boost domestic demand, the finance ministry said Wednesday. These are a set of [...]
SEOUL, March 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Impacted by high interest rates, high inflation and a stagnant job market, South Korea’s consumption has been on a downward trend since the autumn of 2022. According to data from Statistics Korea, the nation’s seasonally adjusted retail sales index stood at 103.9 in January, down 5.03 percentage points compared [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Korea Bizwire) — The lower income tier spent more than half of its disposable income on food in the third quarter of this year, with consumers directly exposed to surging prices, the statistics agency said Monday. Statistics Korea’s Household Income and Expenditure Survey showed that households located in the lower 20 percent [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Close to 6 in 10 South Koreans are planning to cut back on spending for the latter part of this year due to skyrocketing prices and soaring interest rates, a poll showed Tuesday. The Federation of Korean Industries conducted a nationwide survey of some 1,000 South Koreans over 18 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Thursday it plans to spend 74 trillion won (US$53.4 billion) on supporting low-income families, senior citizens and other vulnerable people next year in a bid to ease the burden of rising living costs. The government plans to increase its budget spending by 8.7 trillion won in [...]
SEOUL, May 24 (Korea Bizwire) — Online shopping spending increased after social distancing rules were lifted. According to the survey conducted jointly by local e-commerce platforms Gmarket and Auction of 5,320 customers, 51 percent of the respondents said their spending increased somewhat in May after social distancing rules were fully lifted, followed by 26 percent [...]
SEOUL, April 27 (Korea Bizwire) — The rising ‘revenge spending’ trend spawning from demand for consumption during the pandemic has prompted a growing number of Koreans to spend more than 1 million won (US$789) on a single transaction this year. Major credit card issuer Samsung Card Co. reported that the number of transactions involving payments [...]