Sales at South Korean duty-free stores plunged nearly 38 percent on-year in 2020 due to the spread of the new coronavirus, industry data showed Monday.

Combined sales of local duty-free shops totaled 15.5 trillion won ($13.9 billion) last year, down 37.7 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Korea Duty Free Shops Association.

Foreign shoppers accounted for 94 percent of the sales figure as the coronavirus pandemic kept South Koreans from going abroad.

The proportion was 83 percent in 2019.

The number of visitors came to 10.67 million in 2020, amounting to only 22 percent of the previous year's 48.44 million. Foreigners took up 30 percent of the total.

In December, duty-free sales stood at 1.2 trillion won, down 16.6 percent from the prior month.

Sales at local duty-free shops had been on the rise, with the number surpassing the 20 trillion-won mark in 2019.

But local duty-free shops took a big hit from the fast spread of COVID-19 last year, which has made it impossible for small-scale Chinese vendors, their major customers, to visit South Korea. Those Chinese vendors sell their duty-free purchases, such as cosmetic products, to consumers back home.

According to industry journal Moodie Davitt Report, the coronavirus pandemic upended the global duty-free landscape last year as Chinese industry players made strides after Beijing allowed locals to spend more on its island province of Hainan.

China Duty Free Group became the world's largest duty-free shop by sales last year, up from 5th place a year earlier. Dufry of Switzerland, which took the top spot in 2019, fell to second place.

Major South Korean players Lotte Duty Free and Shilla Duty Free placed third and fifth, respectively, in 2020, down from second and third a year earlier. (Yonhap)