Foreigners' credit card spending in South Korea slowed down in the first six months of this year, industry data showed Monday, apparently hit by the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

Foreigners purchased a total of 5.4 trillion won ($4.5 billion) with plastic in South Korea during the January-June period, up 11.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Shinhan Card Co.

The on-year gain lost steam from a 40 percent annual jump last year.

Shinhan Card attributed the slowdown to the MERS outbreak that has claimed 36 lives here since its outbreak on May 20 and sent the number of foreign visitors to South Korea tumbling.

The foreign card spending rose 22 percent on-year in the first five months, but dropped 35 percent in June alone, when the MERS fears peaked.

The number of foreign visitors plunged 41 percent on-year to 750,925 in June from 1.27 million a year ago, according to separate data. (Yonhap)