S. Korea's retail sales hit 4-month high on demand for cosmetics, clothing

Retail sales in South Korea hit the highest in four months due to demand for consumer goods, indicating a full-fledged recovery in private consumption from a MERS outbreak, a government report showed Monday.

Overall retail sales amounted to 31.13 trillion won (27.32 billion U.S. dollars) in September, up 4.1 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

It marked the largest in four months since May when the retail sales recorded 31.43 trillion won.

Sales among retailers, including department stores and discount outlets, began to reduce in June when the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) fears peaked. The figure shrank from 31.43 trillion won in May to 29.35 trillion won in June and 29.45 trillion won in August each.

The September figure rebounded on the back of demand for cosmetics and clothing that gained 3.9 percent and 0.6 percent each in September from a year earlier.

Food and beverage sales surged 14.5 percent and furniture sales increased 3.7 percent.

Sales among convenient stores jumped 32.8 percent, with those for discount chains and department stores rising 10.4 percent and 5.7 percent respectively.

Online shopping expanded 18.3 percent from a year earlier to 4. 32 trillion won in September, accounting for 13.9 percent of the total retail sales.

During the July-September period, retail sales reached 90.77 trillion won, up 1.8 percent from the same period of last year. Online shopping sales surged 17.2 percent to 13.45 trillion won during the same period.