Over half of Koreans planning to spend less in 2024: poll

More than half of South Koreans are planning to tighten their purse strings in 2024 on inflation and falling income, a poll showed Wednesday, signaling a rebound in the country's consumer spending may not be in the cards next year, Yonhap reports.

The survey of 1,000 Koreans aged 18 or older showed 52.3 percent of the respondents intend to cut back on their spending in the coming year from 2023.

The Federation of Korean Industries (FKI), the lobby for family-controlled conglomerates in South Korea, commissioned the survey conducted by local pollster Mono Research from Nov. 27-30.

Given the results, the FKI said, South Korea's consumer spending, which has been recovering since the downgrade of the coronavirus outbreak, is expected to plunge this year and unlikely to take a turn for the better next year.

Yet the ratio of people planning to spend less is lower than the 56.2 percent recorded in the same survey a year earlier, it added.

According to the findings, the largest proportion of pollees at 43.5 percent cited high consumer prices as the prime reason for their plan to cut back on expenditures next year.

About 13 percent picked concerns over job losses and an expected decrease in income, followed by rising taxes and public utility rates at 10.1 percent.

Some 21 percent of the respondents said they will reduce spending on travel and eating out among other things, with some 15 percent replying they will spend less money on leisure and cultural activities.

Nearly 44 percent said policy measures should be taken to stabilize consumer prices and the won-dollar exchange rate in order to help consumer spending turn around next year, with some 15 percent saying interest rates should be lowered.

The survey also showed about 90 percent of the respondents predicting South Korea's economic conditions for the coming year to be similar to those in 2023 or will deteriorate.