South Korea retail sales jump in August following approach of festive season

Retail sales in South Korea jumped during the month of August, following approach of the festive season, especially early purchases of gifts ahead of the Chuseok harvest holiday.

South Korea’s retail sales grew 9.1 percent in August compared to last year, data released by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy showed Friday. Although this is a slight drop from July’s 10.8 percent figure, the retail industry has consistently seen around 9 to 10 percent annual growth each month.

E-commerce operators enjoyed the biggest boost, marking 20 percent growth for the second straight month, while sales at brick-and-mortar establishments including department stores, discount stores and convenience stores only rose an average 4.3 percent, the data showed.

Further, sales of such food products surged 50.6 percent from last year and accounted for 8 percent of all revenue made at convenience stores last month. Other processed food products, including Chuseok gift sets, which accounted for 45.9 percent of revenue and saw a sales increase of 19 percent.

"This year’s Chuseok came earlier than the previous year, and it led to more people shopping in August. The data showed that the demand for home appliances for summer use and gifts for the holiday rose compared to the previous year," said Chung Jong-young, Director at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Meanwhile, the composite consumer sentiment index dropped during the period of September for the first time in three months. The index figure fell 0.1 point from 101.8 in August to 101.7 this month, where a reading above 100 indicates optimism while that below 100, pessimism.