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Overseas card spending falls by most in 3 years in Q1 amid weak consumption

Published: 23 May. 2025, 16:39

A plane takes off from an airstrip at Incheon International Airport on Feb. 2. [YONHAP]

Koreans' overseas card spending fell by the largest margin in three years in the first quarter from three months earlier mainly due to a decline in overseas direct purchases, data showed Friday.

The amount of money spent overseas by Koreans with credit and debit cards came to $5.35 billion in the January to March period, down 5.2 percent from the previous quarter's $5.64 billion, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

It marked the sharpest on-quarter decline since the first quarter of 2022.

The decline came as overseas direct purchases via credit cards dropped 15.3 percent from the previous quarter to $1.35 billion.

"Direct purchases from overseas tend to increase in the fourth quarter due to such major discount events as Black Friday. The first-quarter decline was mainly attributable to a seasonal factor," a BOK official said.

The number of outbound travelers advanced 4.1 percent on-quarter to 7.79 million in the first quarter.

Compared with a year earlier, overseas card spending went up 3.1 percent, which was the lowest growth since the first quarter of 2021, when card spending tumbled amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the data showed.

Yonhap