Sales at Korea’s major discount outlets rose from a year earlier as department stores posted losses in January, mainly due to a drop in demand for clothing, a government report showed Thursday.

Sales at the country’s three major discount outlet chains grew 2.7 percent last month from the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

The gain at the discount outlet chains ― Lotte Mart, E-Mart and Homeplus ― was largely led by a 4.5 percent increase in sales of household supplies.

Combined sales at the country’s three major department store chains, on the other hand, slipped 4.1 percent on-year in January, a sharp turnaround from an 11 percent gain the previous month.

The department store chains are Lotte, Shinsegae and Hyundai. (Yonhap News)

The ministry attributed the drop to weak sales of warm winter clothing due to what it called unseasonably high temperatures in January. It added that the drop in the number of business days also contributed to weaker sales.

The average temperature in January came to minus 2.8 C, compared with minus 7.2 C a year earlier, according to the ministry.

Sales of women’s suits at the department stores plunged 16.5 percent on-year with those of other women’s clothing and men’s wear, dropping 8.1 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.

Sales of household goods, including home appliances, at department stores dropped 11 percent from a year earlier, the ministry said.

“A cut in the number of business days apparently led to a large drop of 7.9 percent in the number of individual purchases at department stores from the same period last year, which in turn, led to a drop in overall sales at department stores,” a ministry official said.

The number of individual purchases at discount outlets rose 3 percent on-year. (Yonhap News)