South Korea retail sales up 7.9% in February

The operating days during the Seollal holidays helped boost sales.

Retail sales in South Korea grew by 7.9% (YoY) in February due to the higher number of operating days because of the Seollal holidays compared to last year and the base effect from the Omicron outbreak.

In a statement, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said both offline and online sales increased by 8% and 7.8%, respectively.

For offline stores, sales in the hypermarket chains increased by 5.8% boosted by the double digits rise in clothing, sports, miscellaneous, and food products that offset the 19.4% decline in home appliance/culture due to a high base effect last year.

READ MORE: Online sales drive South Korea’s 4% retail growth in January

Department store chains also rose by 8.6% due to increased sales in outdoor activities and early sales for new spring season products. Convenient stores increased by 8.6%, whilst the sales of super supermarket operators reported a 3.2% uptick.

Meanwhile, the ministry said the increase in online sales was due to the rise in overseas travel and outdoor activities that boosted demands for services, fashion/clothing, and cosmetics. Sales of children/infants and home appliances/electronics experienced a decline.

The monthly retail sales data was based on the survey of three department store chains, three hypermarket chains, three convenience store chains, four super supermarket operators and 13 online retailers.