Overseas card spending down in Q1 amid less traveling, won's fall

SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- South Koreans' overseas card spending shrank 10.4 percent in the first quarter as people cut down on traveling amid a resurgence of coronavirus infections and the local currency's fall discouraging online shopping, central bank data showed Tuesday.

The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, came to US$3.06 billion in the January-March period, compared with $3.42 billion a quarter earlier, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

The decline was blamed on a decrease in overseas traveling amid a resurgence in coronavirus infections and reduced spending on online shopping due to the won's weakness against the U.S. dollar.

The number of outbound travelers came to some 406,000 during the first quarter, down 1.5 percent from three months earlier, the data showed.

The local currency changed hands at 1,204.9 won against the greenback on average daily in the first quarter, compared with the previous quarter's 1,183.2 won.

A fall in the local currency's value makes overseas purchases more expensive, encouraging consumers to spend less on foreign goods.

kokobj@yna.co.kr
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