South Koreans’ overseas credit card spending rose to a record high in the first quarter as more people bought products and services from abroad, the central bank said Thursday.

Overseas credit card bills totaled $2.27 billion in the January-March period, up 5.2 percent from three months earlier, according to the Bank of Korea. The figure covers purchases made by credit, debit or check cards.

The amount also marks the second highest quarterly spending total after the $2.96 billion reported for the third quarter of 2011.

The increase comes after a 5.9 percent contraction in overseas credit card spending in the last three months of 2011 when the total stood at $2.16 billion.

The BOK added that the number of credit card users increased along with the amount spent per person, compared to the previous quarter.

In the cited period, the number of local residents that used credit cards to purchase goods and services abroad rose 2.7 percent on-quarter to 4.89 million.

South Koreans spent an average of $464 with plastic up 2.4 percent from three months earlier, according to the BOK. 

(Yonhap News)