Korea suffered its largest tourism-sector deficit in six years during the first half of 2024, as outbound Korean travelers spent far more than inbound foreign visitors, data showed, Thursday.

Data compiled by the Bank of Korea (BOK) and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) revealed that Asia’s fourth-largest economy posted a travel balance deficit of $6.48 billion from January to June.

The 2024 figure marked the highest deficit for any first half of a year since 2018 when it stood at $7.83 billion.

The travel trade balance is the difference between what a country’s citizens spend abroad and what international tourists spend within that country.

Korean tourists spent $14.32 billion during their overseas travels, whereas foreign visitors here spent $7.84 billion, according to the data.

Such a gap in tourism spending suggests that a rise in international tourist numbers in the post-pandemic era does not necessarily lead to increased travel revenue.

The KTO said the number of inbound visitors reached 7.7 million in the first six months of 2024, which is 91.3 percent of the level seen in 2019 before the pandemic.

The recovery rate for inbound visitors was 한국을 slightly lower than that of outbound Korean travelers, which stood at 93.4 percent, or 14.02 million people.

However, in terms of the pace of recovery in expenditures, spending by foreign visitors was only 75.4 percent of the amount seen in 2019.

In contrast, expenditures abroad by Korean travelers reached 89.2 percent of the level in 2019.

The BOK largely attributed the largest deficit in six years to the weak Japanese yen, which fell to a three-decade low against the U.S. dollar due to the Bank of Japan’s ultra-dovish monetary policy. The BOJ has only recently moved away from this policy.

Accordingly, the number of Korean travelers to Japan shot up 42 percent year-on-year to 4.44 million in the first half.