Sales at Korea's duty-free stores jumped 26.1 percent in the first half of this year from a year ago, helped by a rising influx of Chinese travelers, the customs agency said Monday.

The combined revenue of 50 duty-free outlets nationwide was tallied at 5.77 trillion won ($5.07 billion) in the January-June period, surpassing the 5 trillion won mark for the first time, the Korea Customs Service said.

If the current trend continues in the latter half, this year's duty-free sales are expected to reach 12 trillion won, about double 2011's 5.37 trillion won, the KCS said.

By type, 22 city outlets in Seoul, Busan and Jeju accounted for 71.1 percent of the total sales, followed by stores at airports and ports with 23.9 percent, the agency said.

Sales of imported goods accounted for 58.4 percent, while homegrown products took up the rest of the revenue.

Local customers outnumbered foreign shoppers, but the individual expenditure by foreigners was at $345, more than triple the average spending of Koreans at $103, it noted. (Yonhap)