Growth of South Korean consumers' overseas direct purchases sharply slowed in the first half as demand waned on economic concerns, unfavorable exchange rates and other factors, a government report showed Monday.

South Koreans ordered some $770 million worth of goods from aboard in the January-June period, up 7 percent from $720 million the year before, the Korea Customs Service said.

In terms of volume, there were 7.91 million shipments, a gain of 6 percent from 7.46 million purchases that cleared customs the year before.

The first-half growth rate is much lower than the 54 percent annual surge tallied from 2010 through 2014, as measured in monetary terms. In shipment volume, imports jumped 44 percent in the same period.

By country, 75 percent of all direct purchases came from the United States, although the pace of increase stood at just 7 percent on-year, down sharply from nearly 40 percent annual growth reported in the past few years.

Imports from China and Hong Kong dipped in the first half due to unfavorable exchange rates, while imports from European countries and Japan rose as the Korean won strengthened against these currencies.

"The slowdown in direct purchases of foreign goods resulted from a combination of slowing economic growth, exchange rate changes and local importers cutting prices to stay competitive," the KCS said. (Yonhap)