As the chip boom lifts headline figures, consumption has cooled. The third-quarter spending data, reported by the Kyunghyang Shinmun citing the industry ministry and the Credit Finance Association, are read as a sign that the fruits of growth are not being shared evenly.
According to a Kyunghyang Shinmun report on the 1st, the industry ministry's September activity data released on the 30th showed Q3 retail sales (constant prices) down 0.5% from a year earlier, ending growth that had run since Q2 2025 after five quarters. They fell 1.7% from the previous quarter. Output in accommodation and food services also dropped 2.2% year on year, its first decline in five quarters.
광고 문의 · 300×250Card spending is slowing too. In Credit Finance Association data cited by Kyunghyang, Q3 card approvals rose 3.4%, about half the 7%-plus pace of the first two quarters. Approvals at lodging and restaurants rose 3.2% in Q1 and 6.8% in Q2 before falling 0.6% in Q3. The association reportedly pointed to a base effect from last year's consumption coupons, price and interest-rate pressure, and weak durable goods sales.
Pressure from rates, prices and asset markets
Several forces are weighing on households. The same report says the Bank of Korea raised its policy rate twice, in July and August, to 3%, and household loan rates rose for a fifth straight month to 4.96% in September. Consumer inflation stayed high at 3% in Q2 and 2.9% in Q3.
Asset markets diverge sharply. Kyunghyang said the KOSPI fell from around 8,400 at end-June to close at 5,730.74 on the 30th, a drop of more than 30% in four months. The national monthly rent index's annual gain widened from 1.98% at end-March to 2.9% at end-June and 3.72% at end-September. Q3 domestic migration fell 10.2%, the biggest drop since Q4 2022, and moves by 20-to-24-year-olds, who are sensitive to rents, fell 20.7%.
The expert diagnosis is lopsided growth. Kim Hyun-dong, a business professor at Paichai University, said the slowdown suggests gains are concentrated in certain groups and argued that budget talks should secure welfare spending and income support for low-income households that truly improve living standards. These figures come from the Kyunghyang report; this newspaper did not check them directly against original ministry or statistics-agency data. How the government and ruling party assess the trickle-down effect of chip-led growth was not confirmed in the report.