SEOUL, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's direct overseas purchase hit a record high in the second quarter thanks to rising popularity of Chinese online platforms, statistical office data showed Thursday.
Local customers bought 2.02 trillion won (1.5 billion U.S. dollars) worth of products directly in the cyberspace during the April-June quarter, up 25.6 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
It marked the largest quarterly figure since relevant data began to be compiled in 2014.
The record overseas purchase came on the back of the growing popularity of Chinese e-commerce platforms, such as AliExpress and Temu, among domestic customers.
Online direct purchase from China surged 64.8 percent from a year earlier to 1.24 trillion won (907.5 million dollars) in the second quarter, accounting for 61.4 percent of the total.
It was followed by the United States with 424.9 billion won (310.9 million dollars) and Japan with 134.6 billion won (98.5 million dollars).
Of the total products directly purchased through overseas e-commerce platforms, clothing and fashion items took up the highest 43.7 percent, trailed by food and beverage with 18.6 percent and daily necessities and car accessories with 8.7 percent.
Meanwhile, direct overseas sales by South Korean online vendors reduced 6.7 percent over the year to 448.9 billion won (328.5 million dollars) in the second quarter.
It marked the first fall in four quarters since the second quarter of last year. ■
