SEOUL, Sept. 2 (Xinhua) -- South Koreans' overseas plastic card spending fell in the second quarter due to a sharp decline in outbound travelers that outweighed steady growth in direct foreign online shopping, central bank data showed Wednesday.
Overseas spending by domestic residents through credit, debit and prepaid cards totaled 5.85 billion U.S. dollars in the April-June quarter, down 4.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.
The quarterly fall was driven by a slowdown in travel-related expenditures. The number of outbound South Korean travelers plunged 20.4 percent over the quarter to 6.63 million in the second quarter.
The lower travel demand eclipsed the expansion in online direct purchases from foreign websites, which gained 4.3 percent to 1.41 billion dollars during the second quarter.
The number of plastic cards used abroad shrank 3.3 percent to 18.16 million in the cited quarter, while the average spending per card ticked down 0.9 percent to 322 dollars.
Meanwhile, plastic card spending by foreign visitors to South Korea surged 36.1 percent from three months earlier to hit an all-time high of 4.86 billion dollars in the second quarter.
The previous record high of 3.79 billion dollars was set in the second quarter of 2025. ■
