With an average monthly expenditure of 14,000 yuan, South Korean consumer spending has experienced the largest decline in history

South Korean consumers saw their biggest drop in spending ever last year after the coronavirus outbreak . Spending on entertainment, education and dining out fell , while spending by low-income groups and elderly households rose due to rising food prices .

Average monthly consumer spending decreased

According to the results of the "2020 Annual Expenditure Household Trends Survey" released by the Korea National Statistical Office on the 8th, the average monthly consumption expenditure of Korean households last year was 2.4 million won (about 14,100 yuan) , a decrease of 2.3% from the previous year . This is the largest decrease since statistics began in 2006. If price increases are taken into account , actual consumption expenditure has decreased by 2.8% .

The average monthly spending of the bottom 20 percent of households rose 3.3 percent to 1.05 million won last year, while the average monthly spending of the top 20 percent fell 0.3 percent to 4.2 million won.

In terms of expenditure items, entertainment and cultural expenses (140,000 won) decreased by 22.6% year-on-year, the largest decrease since statistics were collected . Education expenses (159,000 won) decreased by 22.3%, clothing and shoes (118,000 won) decreased by 14.5%, and food and accommodation (319,000 won) decreased by 7.7%, all of which were the largest decreases in history .

On the contrary, with the increase in demand for home cooking after the epidemic and the rise in food prices, spending on food and non-alcoholic beverages (381,000 won) increased by 14.6% from the previous year , reaching the highest growth rate in history.

In addition, due to the increased demand for masks and nutritional products, health care expenses (221,000 won) also increased by 9.0%, and mainstream tobacco expenses (38,000 won) increased by 4.8% year-on-year.

Online shopping spending hits new highs

Although the overall consumer spending of Koreans has declined, it is not a bad thing for sellers, because Koreans' spending on online shopping has repeatedly hit new highs.

According to a report released by the Korea Information Society Development Institute ( KISDI) , more than 50% of household shopping in South Korea is done online , which is why online shopping in South Korea has maintained a stable trend of double-digit growth for many consecutive months.

According to the Korea Statistics Office, online shopping transactions in South Korea in January this year amounted to 15.1 trillion won (about 13.3 billion U.S. dollars) , a year-on-year increase of 22.4%. In February, online shopping transactions amounted to 13.7 trillion won (about 12.2 billion U.S. dollars) , a year-on-year increase of 15.2%.

Therefore, for sellers, the decline in Korean consumer spending is simply due to a reduction in offline consumption, which in turn has the effect of promoting online consumption.

Consumer spending

South Korea

Seller