Duty free sales in South Korea soar +17.3% in first half of 2016

SOUTH KOREA. Sales at South Korean duty free shops were up +17.3% in the first half of 2016 to KRW5.58 trillion (US$4.9 billion). The increase was primarily attributable to the rising number of Chinese tourists.

The data covers duty free market sales collected by the Korea Customs Service and takes into account 50 duty free shops.

It is the first time duty free sales in the first half have exceeded KRW5 trillion.

Accumulative visitor figures for the first five months of 2016 underline the strong growth in Chinese visitors. Source: Korea Tourism Organization

Sales at 22 downtown duty free stores in Seoul, Jeju and Busan were up +26.7% to KRW3.97 trillion (US$3.5 billion), accounting for 71.1% of the total. Sales at duty free shops in airports and seaports made up 23.9% of the total.

The average purchase for foreign customers was US$345, well above Korean nationals’ US$103.

The South Korean government is planning to issue several new store licences in the coming months.

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