According to the Korean Customs Service (KCS) which recently shared some Korean duty free sales figures with the local media, the total DF market in South Korea grew by +33.5% in 2016, registering sales of KRW12,275.7bn (US$10.56bn)
The No. 1 duty free retailer in South Korea, Lotte Duty free, registered sales of KRW5,972.8bn (US$5.13bn)in 2016, whilst second-placed Shilla Duty Free saw sales rise to KRW3,405.3bn (US$2.93bn).
Shinsegae Duty Free posted sales of KRW960.8bn (US$826m).
By product category, sales of cosmetics – the highest-grossing product category – rose to KRW6,273.3bn (US$5.4bn); sales of handbags reached KRW1,735.6bn ($1.5bn); watches KRW935.9bn (US$804.5m) and tobacco KRW593.5bn ($510.2m).