Sales at the country's major discount outlet chains plunged from a year earlier last month with sales of department stores also dropping significantly, the government said Thursday, pointing to worsening consumer sentiments here.

The combined sales of the country's three major discount outlet chains fell 24.6 percent from the same period last year in January, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The three outlet chains are Lotte Mart, E-Mart and Homeplus.

The ministry attributed such a large drop partly to a change in the dates for the Lunar New Year holiday, which was moved from January in 2012 to February this year.

"Sales dropped by a large margin as the Lunar New Year holiday was pushed back into February, resulting in a significant drop in sales of foodstuff and holiday gifts," it said in a press release.

A drop in sales of groceries also affected overall sales of the country's three major department store chains, whose combined sales dipped 8.3 percent on-year last month despite a slight increase in the number of purchases.

The total number of purchases at department stores gained 0.1 percent on-year last month, but the average amount of each purchase dropped 8.3 percent from 88,823 won (US$82.36) in January 2012 to 81,460 won last month, according to the ministry. The three department store chains are Hyundai, Shinsegae and Lotte. (Yonhap News)