South Korea's tourism deficit toward Japan reaches a record high, as the number of South Korean travelers to Japan surges significantly.

Korean Media: South Korea's tourism deficit with Japan hits record high — what about China?

On July 21, the Korean media outlet Seoul Economic Daily published an article stating that South Koreans spent over 13 trillion KRW in Japan last year, setting a historical record for the tourism trade deficit with Japan. In contrast, Japanese tourists spent only 4 trillion KRW in South Korea.

According to statistics released by the Bank of Korea, South Korea's tourism trade deficit with Japan reached 57.054 billion USD last year, marking the largest deficit since data collection began in 1998.

In 2020, South Korea enjoyed a tourism trade surplus of 368.7 million USD with Japan; in 2021, the surplus was 129.9 million USD. However, in 2022, this figure turned into a deficit of 575.7 million USD.

Since then, the deficit has been growing annually, reaching 4.0667 billion USD in 2023 and 4.9126 billion USD in 2024, surpassing 5.7 billion USD for the first time last year.

Last year, tourism revenue related to Japan amounted to 2.7373 billion USD. On the other hand, tourism expenditure reached 8.4427 billion USD. Tourism revenue refers to foreign spending within South Korea, while tourism expenditure refers to South Korean spending abroad.

Tourism expenditure related to Japan has shown a steady upward trend. It increased from 731.1 million USD in 2021 to 1.9554 billion USD in 2022, 6.087 billion USD in 2023, and 7.2771 billion USD in 2024. Last year’s expenditure set a new record high.

In comparison with other countries, Japan recorded the largest tourism trade deficit for South Korea. Last year, South Korea’s tourism trade deficit with the United States was 4.7135 billion USD, with Southeast Asia 2.0523 billion USD, with the EU 911.9 million USD, and with the Middle East 23.1 million USD.

South Korea maintained a tourism trade surplus of 3.7698 billion USD with China, and also achieved a surplus of 25.5 million USD with Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Bank of Korea analysis pointed out that as the number of South Korean travelers visiting Japan reached a record high, the country’s tourism trade deficit expanded accordingly. The weakening of the yen is considered the main factor driving increased demand for travel to Japan.

According to statistics, the number of South Koreans traveling to Japan in 2025 is expected to reach 9.46 million, up 7.3% from 8.818 million in 2024. This represents a staggering increase of 69.4% compared to 2019 (5.585 million).

In contrast, the number of Japanese tourists visiting South Korea last year was just 3.653 million. Although this marks a 13.3% increase from 3.224 million in 2024, it still shows a significant gap compared to the scale of South Koreans traveling to Japan.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1871305048294412/

Disclaimer: This article reflects the personal views of the author.