Consumption among Different Demographic Groups During the Pandemic in Korea

Abstract

We examine whether the changes in the sales of businesses after COVID-19 differ across various demographic groups using credit card transaction data in South Korea. In addition, we estimate the statistical association between the changes in the sales of businesses and the COVID-19 severity, measured by the incidence per thousand population, and investigate the differences in the statistical associations across demographical groups. We find that whether the changes in sales vary across demographic groups depends on the business category. The sales in restaurants and bars & snacks were reduced more among female cardholders than male cardholders, and cardholders in the 20s tend to reduce spending in these businesses less than older age groups did. In addition, cardholders in the 40s did not reduce spending in private education related to college entrance examinations, while they did in private education which is related less to the examinations.