South Korean duty-free shops saw a 59.2 percent on-year surge in sales last month, despite slow recovery in Chinese tourists, thanks to active shuttle trade as demand for Korean products still remains high in China.

According to Korea Duty Free Shops Association on Sunday, sales of Korean duty-free shops reached $1.5 billion in May, up 59.2 percent from a year ago. It is the third largest record after $1.57 billion in March and $1.52 billion in April.

Foreigners contributed 78.3 percent to the sales in May, more than three times larger than Koreans.

The stellar performance was largely driven by mass purchases from individual merchants to resell in China, according to duty-free businesses.

The Korean duty-free industry was hit hard last year due to a sharp fall in sales after big-spending Chinese tourists nearly halved following Beijing’s ban on package tours to Korea in retaliation against Seoul’s installation of U.S. missile shield system.

By Lee Han-na and Lee Ha-yeon

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]