Retail sales in South Korea rose 3.6% month-on-month in September 2026, rebounding from a 1.8% decline in August. This was the strongest increase in retail activity since October of the previous year, largely driven by higher sales of durable goods, including food and beverages and passenger cars.
On a year-on-year basis, however, retail trade fell 0.4% in September, extending a downwardly revised 0.1% decline in the prior period. As a key gauge of private consumption, these figures indicate that the monthly recovery in sales has not yet translated into stronger annual consumption growth. The continued year-on-year contraction underscores persistent weakness in household spending, even as the sharp monthly rebound signals an improvement in retail activity toward the end of the third quarter.
