Overseas Direct Purchase Surging in 1H

According to Korea Customs Service, Koreans’ direct purchase from foreign countries rose sharply in the first six months of this year on rising demand for cheaper price tags. A total of US$ 974.1 million worth of foreign goods was directly bought by Korean shoppers via overseas shopping malls in the period of January-June, up 30% from a year earlier. In terms of the number of transactions, overseas direct purchase also showed a 34% increase to 10.9 million in 1H 2017 over a year ago.

Foodstuffs remained the most popular item among Korean shoppers with 3.7 million purchases made in the first half this year, up 37% from a year ago, while some 1.4 million foreign-made cosmetics were directly brought into the country, up 26% from the corresponding period last year. Meanwhile, the U.S. kept its No.1 position in Korea’s overseas direct purchase market with a 57% share in 1H of the year, followed by EU (16%), China (15%) and Japan (9%). 

Source: Korea Customs Service 2017.8.11 Press Release