Duty-free stores are facing a downturn. This is analyzed to be due to decreased consumption at duty-free shops as a result of high exchange rates and international economic recession.
According to the duty-free industry on the 12th, domestic duty-free store sales in January of this year amounted to 954.4 billion won, a 40% decrease compared to the same period last year. Compared to the previous month, it decreased by 24%. The number of duty-free customers increased by 1.5% year-on-year, totaling 2.29 million.
Despite an increase in duty-free visitors, the decrease in sales is attributed to the reduction in large transactions by Chinese ''daigou'' shoppers. Additionally, the global economic recession has also been cited as a cause of the decline in relatively high-priced duty-free consumption.
This trend is similar to last year. Last year, domestic duty-free sales were 4.22 trillion won, up 3.4% year-on-year, but when converted to dollars ($105,230.7), it showed a decrease of 0.7%. During the same period, the number of duty-free customers was 28.45 million, an increase of 6.36 million compared to 2023.
A duty-free industry official said, “High exchange rates and economic recession are changing travel trends,” and noted, “Tourists are shifting their consumption to low-cost retail channels such as Olive Young and Daiso instead of duty-free shops.”