Card spending slows in 2023 amid slump in private spending

Daily card spending in South Korea gained 6.2 percent last year, but its growth slowed from the previous year amid a slump in domestic demand, central bank data showed Monday. Holders of credit and debit cards spent an average 3.3 trillion won (US$2.46 billion) per day last year, compared with 3.1 trillion won the previous year, according to the data from the Bank of Korea (BOK). Credit card spending rose 6.9 percent on-year to a daily average of 2.62 trillion won, slowing from the previous year's 13.5 percent on-year gain, the data showed. The country's real gross domestic product -- a key measure of economic growth -- increased 1.4 percent last year, but marked a slowdown from a 2.6 percent advance in 2022 and 4.3 percent growth in 2021, and the lowest since a 0.7 percent contraction in 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic. Private spending gained 5.3 percent last year, decelerating from the previous year's 8.7 percent advance, the data showed. Source: Yonhap News Agency