Korea Department Store Sales Fall Most Since at Least ’05

Sales at major South Korean department stores declined the most since at least 2005 in August as Europe’s debt crisis weighed on consumer sentiment and a national holiday fell later in the year.

Outlays at the three biggest chains declined 6.9 percent from a year earlier in August after a 1.3 percent drop in July, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said in a statement today. Discount-store sales slipped 3.3 percent last month, the report showed. The ministry’s comparable sales data begin in January 2005.