Foreign tourist spending in Seoul jumps nearly 60%

Shopping, medical and wellness services account for over 70% of spending

Foreign tourists’ card spending in Seoul rose nearly three times as fast as visitor numbers in the first eight months of the year, nearly matching the total spent throughout last year.

Foreign tourists spent 7.78 trillion won ($5.79 billion) by card in the capital from January through August, up 59.9 percent from a year earlier, the Seoul Metropolitan Government said Tuesday. That growth rate was about 2.8 times the 21.6 percent increase in visitors over the same period.

The eight-month spending total was equivalent to about 98 percent of the 7.94 trillion won recorded for all of 2025.

In August alone, card spending reached 1.03 trillion won, up 58.1 percent on-year. Monthly spending has remained above 1 trillion won since April, marking five consecutive months above that threshold.

Seoul accounted for 69.3 percent of foreign tourists’ nationwide offline card spending in August and 71.1 percent over the first eight months.

Shopping accounted for the largest share of spending over the January to August period at 46.6 percent, followed by medical and wellness services at 23.8 percent, food and beverages at 13.2 percent, and accommodations at 10.4 percent.

Spending at large shopping malls rose 77.5 percent on-year to 1.70 trillion won. Medical tourism spending increased 64.2 percent, while spending at restaurants and beauty businesses grew 59.5 percent and 39.7 percent, respectively.

In August alone, spending at large malls rose 88.3 percent and restaurant spending increased 80.3 percent.

The gains extended to neighborhood shopping districts and traditional markets. Spending in neighborhood commercial areas rose 80.9 percent, outpacing the 57.6 percent increase in established commercial districts and 50.1 percent growth in traditional markets.

Areas around Dosan Park and Gyeongsu Elementary School in Seongsu-dong recorded increases of 240.1 percent and 206.6 percent, respectively.

Spending along Seongsu’s cafe street rose 109.3 percent, while Gwangjang Market and Namdaemun Market saw increases of 127.4 percent and 67.9 percent.

Visitor numbers also set records. An estimated 1.72 million foreign tourists visited Seoul in August, up 23.3 percent on-year and the highest monthly total on record. The January to August total reached 11.56 million, a record for the eight-month period.

The visitor figures are provisional estimates calculated by applying last year’s Seoul visitation rate of 76.8 percent to the Korea Tourism Organization’s inbound visitor figures.

China was the largest source market in August, accounting for 636,000 visitors, or 36.9 percent. Japan followed with 322,000, or 18.6 percent, and Taiwan with 188,000, or 10.9 percent. Together, the three countries accounted for 66.4 percent of visitors.