South Koreans’ card spending up 32% to $19.22b in 2023: report

The number of Koreans who traveled overseas tripled in 2023.

South Koreans’ overseas card spending rose 32% in 2023, reports Yonhap, based on data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Koreans spent a total of $19.22b overseas with their cards– including credit and debit cards– in 2023. This is almost $5b higher than the $14.54b they spent using their cards in 2022.

The rise was a result of more people going abroad, and increased overseas purchases, according to BOK data.

The number of outbound travelers stood at 22.72 million in 2023, more than triple the 6.55 Koreans who traveled a year earlier, Yonhap reported, referring to industry data. 

Koreans spent $5.17b using their credit cards in 2023, up from $4.14b spent using credit cards in 2022, BOK data showed.

(The original article was published by Yonhap News Agency and was written by Park Sang-soo)