Foreign spending at major outlets in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province has surged since the start of the year. The number of tourists visiting Korea is approaching an all-time high, and the continued weakness of the Korean won has turned the country into a "value-for-money mecca" for foreign shoppers.
According to the retail industry on the 26th, foreign sales at major outlets in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province during January and February rose more than 60% year-on-year. Hyundai Premium Outlets' Gimpo branch and Lotte Outlets' Seoul Station branch saw increases of 66% and 60%, respectively, while Shinsegae Simon Yeoju Premium Outlets reportedly posted a roughly 90% jump.
The number of foreign visitors to Korea is at a record level. According to the "December 2025 Korea Tourism Statistics" released by the Korea Tourism Organization in January, visitors to Korea reached 18.94 million last year, up 15.7% year-on-year and surpassing for the first time the previous record of 17.5 million set in 2019.
By nationality, Chinese visitors were the most numerous. In December alone, 390,000 Chinese, 300,000 Japanese and 160,000 Taiwanese visited Korea. Taiwanese visitors surged 38.1% from the same month a year earlier.
The weak won played a decisive role in steering foreign shoppers away from department stores and duty-free shops toward outlets. Analysts say foreign shoppers are shifting from dollar-denominated duty-free stores to department stores and outlets in search of better pricing as the won remains weak. The share of foreign sales at Shinsegae's Gangnam branch soared from 5.9% in 2023 to 17.7% in 2025.
The price appeal is even greater for Chinese tourists. Analysts say Korea has emerged as the top overseas destination for the Lunar New Year holiday, as the won's weakness, a visa-free policy, expanded flight routes and improving Korea-China relations have all converged. Industry officials explain that buying the same global brands at Korean outlets is 10% to 20% cheaper than purchasing them in China, purely from the exchange-rate effect.
Diplomatic friction between China and Japan has also accelerated the shift of shoppers toward Korea. The number of Chinese tourists visiting Japan in January fell 60.7% year-on-year, and Chinese spending at Japan's Hankyu and Hanshin department stores dropped 60%. By contrast, Lunar New Year sales to Chinese customers at Shinsegae Department Store's Myeongdong main branch surged 416% over the same period. Chinese shopping demand that had gravitated toward Japan has redirected to Korea.
Shopping destinations are also expanding from downtown duty-free shops to suburban premium outlets. In the past, Chinese group tourists — known as "youke" — centered their shopping on duty-free stores. Now, with a growing share of free independent travelers (FIT), the radius of movement has extended to Gyeonggi Province. As tourism patterns shift from group tours to independent travel, demand for "social-proof shopping" driven by social media is also expanding, according to industry officials.
The retail industry views the expansion of foreign sales as a key variable for this year's performance. Foreign tourists are serving as a pillar of earnings amid a prolonged domestic consumption slump. Outlet operators are rolling out incentives one after another, including enhanced Chinese-language signage, expanded acceptance of local mobile payments such as WeChat Pay and Alipay, and exclusive discount coupons for foreign shoppers.