Retail sales see record decline on sluggish demand: Data

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Retail sales see record decline on sluggish demand: Data

Published: 03 Nov. 2024, 18:19

SHIN HA-NEE
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Customers shopping at a discount mart in Yeongdeungpo District in western Seoul in May. [Yonhap]

Korea's retail sales continued to decrease for 2 and a half years, led by weak demand across durable and nondurable goods, government data showed Sunday.

The index for retail sales reached 100.7 on average for the third quarter of this year, down 1.9 percent from a year ago, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

The quarterly retail sales figures decreased consistently since the second quarter of 2022, marking the longest downturn since Statistics Korea began tracking the data in 1995.

The sales index for durable goods has been on a steady decrease since the first quarter of 2022, with the exception of an uptick in the second quarter of last year.

In particular, the sales index for passenger cars fell 8.4 percent in the first quarter and 13.2 percent in the second quarter.

Sales of home appliances were also sluggish as their index has been on a decrease for 10 consecutive quarters.

Sales of semidurable goods, including clothing, also fell, with the category's sales index decreasing by 4.7 percent in the third quarter, marking six consecutive quarters of decline.

Nondurable goods, such as food and beverages, saw sales drop for a record nine quarters in a row, reflecting an ongoing slump in domestic consumption.

Yonhap