Data

The flow of retail, told in numbers —
key statistics on duty-free, tourism, and distribution, gathered in one place.

Travel Retail

Duty-Free Sales

Data available

Annual and monthly domestic-traveler and foreign-traveler sales at Korean duty-free shops (2018–2026, in USD million), compiled from Korea Customs Service open data and monthly press releases.

Korea Customs Service open data · press reports

Inbound Foreign Visitors

Data available

Annual foreign entries into Korea (2018–2025) — a key leading indicator for duty-free and inbound consumption demand.

Ministry of Justice immigration statistics (foreign entries)

Outbound Korean Travelers

Data available

Annual departures by Korean citizens (2018–2025), used to read demand at departure-hall duty-free versus downtown stores, and outbound spending trends.

Ministry of Justice immigration statistics (Korean citizen departures)

Incheon Airport Passenger & Transfer Traffic

Data available

Annual passenger and transfer-passenger counts at Incheon Airport (2018–2025) — the indicator most directly tied to airport duty-free and retail revenue.

Incheon International Airport Corporation

Global Travel Retail Market Size

Data available

Moodie Davitt's 2024 top-5 global travel retail operators (Avolta, CDFG, Lagardère, Lotte, Shilla) with financial detail — a benchmark for placing Korean operators in global context — plus a timeline of DFS Group (LVMH)'s Hong Kong/Macau sale and U.S. exit after dropping out of the top 5.

Moodie Davitt Report · DFNIOnline

Duty-Free Operator Earnings

Data available

Confirmed revenue and operating profit for Korea's four duty-free operators. Q1 and Q2 2026 are both comparable across all four on the same basis (duty-free segment). Q2 — the first quarter after April's Incheon Airport DF1/DF2 reassignment (Shilla→Lotte, Shinsegae→Hyundai) — split the group: Hotel Lotte and Hyundai, who won new zones, grew revenue, while Hotel Shilla and Shinsegae Duty Free, who gave up zones, saw revenue fall even as operating margin improved more. Hotel Lotte's full 2025 Q1–Q4 run is included too, showing six straight quarters. Other years include only values confirmed in disclosures or press reports.

DART/company IR (Hotel Lotte · Hotel Shilla · Shinsegae · Hyundai Department Store)

General Retail

Major Retailer Sales Trends

Data available

Year-over-year sales growth by channel — department stores, hypermarkets, convenience stores, SSMs, online (2024–2026) — tracking the shift in share between offline and online channels.

Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy · e-National Indicators

Online Shopping Trends

Data available

Annual online shopping transaction value (2018–2025), mobile's share, and cross-border direct purchase/resale volume (including cosmetics) — a picture of how fast e-commerce is growing.

Statistics Korea (National Data Agency)

E-Commerce Platform Earnings

Data available

Confirmed revenue and operating profit/loss for six major Korean e-commerce platforms, with notes on why direct comparison is hard given their different business models (inventory-based, open marketplace, ecosystem-driven).

Company IR/disclosures · investor data (Coupang, Naver, Gmarket, SSG.com, 11st, Kurly)

Retail Sales Index

Data available

Year-over-year change in Korea's nationwide retail sales index (2023–2026) — a baseline indicator of how the retail industry is actually feeling the economy.

KOSIS · e-National Indicators

K-Beauty Export Statistics

Data available

Annual cosmetics (HS 3304) export value and reference statistics by country (2023–2025) — an aggregate gauge of overseas demand for K-beauty spanning duty-free, cross-border resale, and local retail.

Korea Customs Service trade statistics · Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

Department Store & Outlet Earnings

Data available

Confirmed revenue and operating profit for five department store operators and outlet operators. Covers Q1 and Q2 2026 segment results together with 2025 total store sales; Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, and Galleria are updated through Q2 (Galleria on a consolidated basis). AK Plaza remains undisclosed.

DART/company IR · industry compilations (Lotte, Shinsegae, Hyundai, Galleria, AK)

Global Beauty Company Earnings

Data available

Revenue and margin data for global beauty companies with significant exposure to the duty-free and travel-retail channel. Covers Estée Lauder's FY2026 Q4/full-year results, L'Oréal's 2026 H1 results, and Coty's FY2026 Q4/full-year results, alongside their Hainan and China travel-retail commentary.

Company IR/disclosures · The Moodie Davitt Report (Estée Lauder)

Beauty Device Company Earnings

Data available

Confirmed earnings for Korean home beauty device companies. Covers APR, growing rapidly on a cosmetics-plus-device hybrid model; LG Household & Health Care (Pra:L), diversifying into devices as its cosmetics profitability weakens; and Cellreturn (STG24), still unable to recover five years after a regulatory-risk event.

Company IR/disclosures · press reports