Households' overseas consumption rises, local consumption edges down in Q1

SEOUL, June 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korean households' overseas consumption rose during the first quarter of this year, but their consumption at home slightly fell, data showed Saturday, despite a slew of policy efforts to boost domestic demand.

Households spent 7.8 trillion won (US$6.9 billion) overseas during the January-March period, up 11 percent from a quarter ago, according to the data by the Bank of Korea. Households' consumption at home, however, declined 0.9 percent on quarter to 186.8 trillion won for the first quarter, the data showed.

Compared to a year ago, households' overseas consumption rose 11.3 percent and their local consumption climbed 3.4 percent.

The rise in overseas consumption was mainly due to a steady gain in the number of outbound tourists. According to data by the Korea Tourism Organization, 6.51 million Koreans went abroad during the first quarter, up 14.3 percent from a quarter ago.

This week, the Bank of Korea said the nation's economy grew 1.1 percent in the first quarter, while domestic consumption edged up 0.4 percent.
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