Retail sales in the country fell by the most in more than two decades last year amid sluggish domestic demand.

According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, the retail sales index, an important gauge of consumption, decreased by two-point-one percent from a year earlier during the first eleven months of 2024.

This represents the steepest fall in 21 years since 2003, when it slipped three-point-one percent amid a credit card crisis.

Sales of durable goods, which include automobiles and electronic appliances, decreased two-point-eight percent on-year in the period, while those of semidurable goods, such as clothing, slipped three-point-seven percent on-year.

Sales of nondurable goods, such as food and beverages, fell one-point-three percent in the period.

Sales of durable, semidurable and nondurable goods have all decreased for the second consecutive year, marking the first time since the nation started compiling related data in 1995.