The Biggest Overseas Direct Purchase Buyers Are Men in Their 40s... Choosing 'Alibaba' Over 'Amazon'

Last Year, Male Purchase Rate Surpassed Female at 52%
China Direct Purchases $1.7 Billion... Largest Scale Last Year

The scale of overseas direct purchases (direct imports) by South Koreans exceeded $4.7 billion (approximately 6.2 trillion KRW) last year, marking an all-time high. With an increase in male direct importers in their 40s, the proportion of men surpassed that of women for the first time.

According to the 'Overseas Direct Purchase Trends' announced by the Korea Customs Service on the 1st, the scale of overseas direct purchases by domestic consumers last year was $4.725 billion, up 1.4% from the previous year. The number of transactions increased by 8.8% to 96.12 million.

By country, direct purchases from China amounted to $1.712 billion, accounting for 36.2%, the highest share. China rose to the top country in terms of direct purchase amount from South Korea for the first time last year. In terms of the number of transactions, China has held the top spot since 2020. Last year, the number of direct purchase transactions from China was 55.417 million, accounting for 57.7% of the total.

Exchange rates also had a significant impact on the direct purchase market. Direct purchase goods imported from the United States decreased by 3.5% compared to the previous year, likely due to the strong dollar causing a sharp rise in the KRW-to-USD exchange rate. On the other hand, during the same period, the 'weak yen' phenomenon led to a 25% surge in products from Japan.

By gender, male direct importers accounted for 52.1% with 48,403 purchase transactions. Female direct importers made 44,535 purchase transactions.

By age group, those in their 40s made the most purchases with 29,725 transactions (32.0%), followed by those in their 30s with 27,486 transactions (29.6%), those aged 50 and above with 21,028 transactions (22.6%), and those in their 20s with 13,545 transactions (14.6%).

In particular, men in their 40s emerged as major spenders in overseas direct purchases. They accounted for the highest proportion at 17.4% of the total. The products most frequently sought by men in their 40s through direct purchases were home appliances and health supplements.

By product category, health supplements were the most imported at 16.3% last year, following 2021. They were followed by home appliances (13%), clothing (11.9%), other foods such as coffee, alcoholic beverages, and snacks (10%), footwear (5.9%), cosmetics and perfumes (4.9%), and toys and dolls (4.4%).

The Korea Customs Service forecasts that this year, the direct purchase amount will exceed $5 billion, and the number of transactions will surpass 100 million.