SEOUL, May 23 (Xinhua) -- South Koreans' overseas plastic card spending fell in the first quarter due to lower online purchases of foreign products, central bank data showed Friday.
Using credit, debit and prepaid cards, domestic residents spent 5.35 billion U.S. dollars overseas during the January-March quarter, down 5.2 percent compared to the previous quarter, according to the Bank of Korea.
The single-digit reduction was attributed to a decrease in the direct purchase of foreign products in cyberspace, which dropped 15.3 percent in the first quarter from three months earlier.
However, from a year earlier, the overseas plastic card spending gained 3.1 percent in the first quarter as more local residents went abroad for travel.
The number of outbound travelers totaled 7,797,000 in the first quarter, up 4.1 percent from the previous quarter.
Overseas spending per plastic card grew 0.6 percent over the quarter to 301 dollars in the first quarter, but the number of plastic cards used overseas was 17.75 million in the first quarter, down 5.8 percent from the previous quarter. ■
