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Overseas card spending drops 28.8% in Q1 amid pandemic

May 30, 2021 - 13:54 By Yonhap

This file photo shows a nearly deserted terminal for international fights at Incheon International Airport, South Korea's main gateway west of Seoul. (Yonhap)
South Koreans' overseas card spending dropped 28.8 percent on-year in the first quarter, due to a sharp decline in the number of outbound travelers amid the COVID-19 pandemic, central bank data showed Sunday.

The amount of money spent overseas by South Koreans with cards, including credit and debit cards, totaled $2.56 billion in the January-March period, compared with $3.59 billion for the same period last year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK).

Compared with three months earlier, overseas card spending fell 4.1 percent.

The on-quarter decline came as nations around the world imposed lockdown measures to combat a third wave of virus infections, the BOK said. (Yonhap)