Retail sales up 13% amid vaccine roll-out

Retail sales in South Korea moved up 12.9 percent in May from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, as more consumers visited offline shops amid the country's aggressive inoculation program.

The combined sales of 25 major offline and online retailers reached 13.1 trillion won ($11.6 billion) last month, up from 11.6 trillion won a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

Sales from offline stores advanced 8.8 percent over the cited period as South Koreans became less reluctant to visit department and other stores.

Around 30 percent of the population has received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines since the vaccine rollout in late February.

The rebound also came on a lower base effect, as sales from offline stores dropped 6.1 percent on-year in May 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Department stores were among major winners, with their sales jumping 19.1 percent over the period on the back of strong demand for imported luxury items.

Convenience stores saw their sales edge up 4.6 percent on firm demand for processed foodstuffs.

Online stores also maintained solid growth in their sales, which advanced 17.6 percent over the period.

Sales from the service sector jumped 61.1 percent as more people enjoyed food delivery services amid the pandemic.

Online sales of children's products and sports items, on the other hand, lost ground as more people visited offline stores. (Yonhap)