Korean retail sales fall for first time in 20 years in first 11 months of 2023

Customers walk around a shopping mall in Seoul on Christmas Day, 2023. [YONHAP]

Korea's retail sales in the first 11 months of 2023 fell for the first time in 20 years as high consumer prices curbed spending, government data showed Monday.

The index for retail sales reached an average of 106.6 in November, down 1.4 percent from a year ago, according to data from Statistics Korea, which compared the January-November average data from 2022 with the same period last year.

This is the first decline since 2003, when the index fell 3.1 percent.

Sales of semidurable goods, such as clothing, footwear and bags, decreased 2.3 percent, while nondurable items like food, cosmetics and fuel dropped 1.7 percent.

On the other hand, highly durable goods such as cars edged up 0.1 percent over the cited period.

The rare drop in the retail sales index came from soaring consumer prices over the last two years, which have tightened private spending.

Korea's rate of inflation rose 5.1 percent in 2022 and 3.6 percent in 2023.

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]