South Korea suffered a widened deficit in tourism in the first six months of the year as outbound travelers outnumbered inbound visitors, industry data showed Wednesday.

The country’s tourism deficit reached $1.79 billion in the January-June period, compared with the $279 million shortfall a year earlier, according to the data.

The deficit came as the number of South Korea’s outbound travelers exceeded that of foreigners visiting the country, and they spent big on purchases overseas.

The number of South Koreans traveling abroad amounted to some 7.22 million in the first six months of the year, up 9.6 percent from a year earlier. They spent a total of $8.41 billion, up $634,000 or 12.9 percent from a year earlier.

On the other hand, a total of 5.53 million foreigners visited the country, down 7,500 over the cited period. Foreigners visiting South Korea spent 7.5 percent less at $6.63 billion over the cited period.

Industry watchers say the number of South Koreans going overseas may reach up to 15 million this year. (Yonhap News)