What: Lunar New Year’s holiday in early February and the opening of Seoul’s biggest department store The Hyundai Seoul triggered pent-up demand.

Why is it important: Sale suggest pent-up spending of the richer in South Korea.

According to the data from Statistics Korea on Monday, department store sales gained 33.5% in Feb against a year-ago period in the biggest year-on-year surge since the data became available in 1995.

The seasonally adjusted retail sales index, which plunged to 105.7 in Feb last year when the first wave of Covid-19 outbreak hit the country, bounced back to pre-pandemic levels at 115.2.

The rise in the retail sales index was driven by increased purchases of cars, home appliances and furniture. The sales index of semi-durable goods like clothes, shoes and bags stood at 98.0 versus 105.0 a year ago. The sales index of nondurables was also lower than pre-pandemic levels partly due to sluggish cosmetics sales at duty-free shops.

Korea’s department store sales jumps 34% in record on-year surge in Feb