Duty free sales down by nearly 50% last year compared to 2019: data
Shoppers walk by a duty free store at Incheon international Airport, Dec. 16, 2025. Newsis
Total sales at local duty free stores last year almost halved from six years earlier, in part due to the depreciation of the Korean won and a drop in demand from Chinese resellers, government data showed Friday.
Sales at duty free stores in Korea totaled 12.5 trillion won ($8.4 billion) in 2025, down by 49.6 percent compared to 2019, when the figure stood at 24.8 trillion won, according to the data from the Ministry of Finance and Economy.
The figure had fallen to 15.5 trillion won in 2020 and remained under the 20 trillion-won mark since, according to the data.
Amid a prolonged slump in sales, the finance ministry held a management committee meeting on duty free stores Friday with relevant ministries to check businesses conditions.
The government cited the won's weakness, a change in consumption patterns and falling demand from Chinese resellers as some of the reasons behind the sales drop, and vowed to come up with support measures.