A Monthly One Trillion Won Flowing Out for Foreign Expenses

It turned out that an average one trillion won per month has flowed out of the country so far this year in the form of overseas tourism and foreign education.

Even with the economic recession, the number of tourists traveling abroad have greatly increased, and over one trillion won was used for overseas travel expenses for July.

According to the Bank of Korea (BOK) yesterday, the foreign deposit for travel incomings and outgoings, the total expense of overseas travels and foreign studies, from January through July of this year, was $6.52 billion, a 16-percent jump from the same period last year. At an average exchange rate for the dollar from January through July of 1,166 won, that’s approximately 7.6 trillion won. Some 1.857 trillion won per month flowed out for overseas travel and foreign studies.

If this trend continues, it is expected that over $10 billion will flow into foreign countries for this year’s travel and study expenses.

As overseas traveling increased with the vacation season, nearly $1 billion dollars--over a trillion won--flowed out during July for the usual traveling.

According to the Korean Customs Service, the total number of tourists who went abroad for this year through July was 4,655,259, a 39.2-percent jump from the same period last year. During July, 828,936 left the country for overseas travel, an increase of 22.4 percent from the previous year.

The BOK said, “August is the peak season for traveling abroad, and with the fall semester starting in foreign countries, remittance for study expenses is concentrated. It is expected that the August overseas payment for travel income and expenditures will soar.”

Kang-Woon Lee kwoon90@donga.com