Retail sales in South Korea grew four per cent year-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 shown.
The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers came to US$11.19bn last month, compared with 14.1tn won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.
The overall growth was led by strong demand at online platforms, which saw their sales advance 9.1 per cent on-year to 7.2 tn won in January. Among categories, sales of tourism and other services enjoyed a 27.3 per cent jump, and demand for foodstuff jumped 10.7 per cent.
Various New Year’s events also boosted sales of cosmetics and home appliances 12.2 per cent and 6.5 per cent, respectively, on-year, the data showed. But sales of offline retailers inched down 0.5 per cent to $5.7bn in January due to fewer business days for them over the New Year’s holiday and the continued spread of the contactless shopping trend, according to the ministry.
