Olive Young (올리브영), Korea's largest health-and-beauty retail chain, says foreign customers have spent more than 1 trillion won in its physical stores this year, and the milestone arrived in August. This article answers a specific question: what do the company's own figures say about how foreign visitors shop there, and why are the stores outside Seoul growing faster than the capital's?
The numbers below come from a Korean-language company release dated August 31, 2026, cross-checked against Korean press coverage of the same release. They are company-reported figures, not audited or government statistics.
The Headline Numbers, Read Carefully
According to the CJ Group newsroom release, cumulative foreign purchases in Olive Young's domestic stores passed 1 trillion won in August 2026, three months earlier than the year before. Bizwatch's report adds the comparison point: the same threshold was first crossed in November 2025.
| Item (January to August 2026) | Figure reported by Olive Young |
|---|---|
| Foreign share of offline sales | 33% (2% in 2022) |
| Foreign sales growth, year on year | +47% |
| Cumulative foreign payments | 11.01 million |
| Nationalities of buyers | 192 countries |
| Average basket | 6 products |
| Share paying 100,000 won or more at once | 35% |
One useful cross-check: more than 1 trillion won spread over 11.01 million payments works out to roughly 90,000 won per payment. That is our own division, not a company-published average, and it is consistent with the 35% of customers who pay 100,000 won or more in a single transaction.
The release also says the buyers' nationalities are based on Global Tax Free (GTF) tax-refund data. It does not explain how foreign sales are identified beyond that, so the scope of "foreign customer" is worth keeping in mind when comparing it to other retailers' figures.
Why the Regions Are Growing Faster Than Seoul
The most distinctive part of the release is geographic. Foreign sales rose 47% overall, but the growth rates by region are uneven:
| Region (2026 Jan to Aug vs. 2025) | Foreign sales growth |
|---|---|
| Gangwon (강원) | +105% |
| Busan (부산) | +85% |
| South Gyeongsang (경남) | +84% |
| Sejong (세종) | +74% |
| South Jeolla (전남) | +73% |
| North Gyeongsang (경북) | +71% |
| North Jeolla (전북) | +69% |
| Jeju (제주) | +59% |
| Gyeonggi (경기) | +48% |
| Seoul (서울) | +41% |
City-level figures point the same way: Gyeongju (경주) rose 88%, Daejeon (대전) 80% and Jeonju (전주) 62%. The release also says the number of nationalities shopping in Gangwon rose from 76 to 85 countries, and in Gyeongju from 88 to 100.
These are growth rates, not absolute amounts. A region growing from a small base can post a bigger percentage than the capital without coming close to it in size, and the release does not publish regional totals. The release does not say whether Seoul still has the largest absolute total, so the safe reading is only that growth is faster outside the capital.
What "Global Tourism District Store" Means
Olive Young sorts part of its network into stores in global tourism districts (글로벌관광상권), a company classification for locations with heavy foreign foot traffic. As of August 2026 there are 151 of them nationwide, more than 10% of all stores. These stores post foreign-language-capable staff, and the company's own survey in May 2026 found that a foreign customer visits an average of 2.8 Olive Young stores per trip.
That 2.8 is the most useful number for understanding the model. A visitor is not making one planned stop; they are passing several stores along a route, and the company says it is adding large "town"-format stores averaging over 200 pyeong (about 660 square meters) and region-specific stores outside the capital area, according to Bizwatch.
The Myeongdong Case
The extreme example is Myeongdong (명동). MTN reported that Olive Young opened Central Myeongdong Town on March 26, 2026, a three-floor store of about 950 pyeong, described as the second-largest in the country after Olive Young N Seongsu (성수). The company said the existing Myeongdong Town store ranked first in sales among all its stores last year, with about 95% of sales coming from foreign customers.
The new store's design reflects that customer base: 22 staffed checkout counters, the most of any Olive Young offline store; staff who speak English, Chinese or Japanese wear flag badges; and more foreign-language signage for tax refunds and payment methods. In June 2026 the company also introduced an AI shopping assistant in some Seoul stores that supports eight languages: Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese, German, Russian, Thai and Indonesian.
What Foreign Customers Buy
The release ranks the top categories as basic skincare, color makeup and hair care, in that order. The more telling numbers are in the narrower segments:
- Dermatological skincare ("K-derma," K더모): foreign sales up about 78% year on year.
- Functional hair care: hair tonics and ampoules made up 28% of sales to foreign customers, against 18% for hair care overall.
- Inner beauty (ingestible beauty products): foreign sales up 64%.
- Olive Better (올리브베러): the wellness-focused format opened this year took more than 40% of its sales from foreign customers.
- Hand care: foreign customers account for 40% of the category, with perfumed hand cream singled out as popular.
These are sales-mix statistics only. They say what sells to foreign customers, not whether any product works, and nothing here should be read as an efficacy claim.
Where This Sits Against Visitor Numbers
The Korea Tourism Organization reported that about 2.06 million foreign visitors came to Korea in September 2026, up 21.1% year on year, and about 17.11 million from January to September, up 21.5%, as SBS Biz summarized on October 28. The top September origins were China (about 657,000), Japan (420,000), Taiwan (208,000), the United States (134,000) and the Philippines (53,000).
Olive Young's top five countries by purchase value this year are the United States, Singapore, Japan, China and Thailand (the release lists them without stating a ranking order). The two lists differ, but they measure different things over different periods: one is arrivals in a single month, the other is spending over eight months. Taiwan and the Philippines send many visitors but do not appear among Olive Young's top five by spending, while Singapore and Thailand do. Whether that reflects spending per visitor, trip length or shopping habits cannot be determined from these two sources.
What the Numbers Do Not Tell You
- The 1 trillion won is a company-reported figure, and Olive Young has not published an auditable breakdown.
- There is no regional revenue total, only percentage growth.
- Tax-refund rules for tourists, and Olive Young's 2026 year-end sale dates, were not confirmed from an official source for this article. Check the retailer's own announcement and Korea's customs or tax authority before planning around either.
Related Reading on KoreaLore
For the overseas side of the same story, see our piece on the Olive Young K-Beauty Edit launch at Sephora. For the manufacturing and export picture, see Korea's record cosmetics exports in 2026.
FAQ
How much have foreign customers spent at Olive Young in 2026?
Olive Young says cumulative foreign purchases in its domestic stores passed 1 trillion won in August 2026, with 11.01 million payments from January to August. Foreign customers made up 33% of offline sales.
Which countries' customers spend the most at Olive Young?
The company names the United States, Singapore, Japan, China and Thailand as its top five countries by purchase value in 2026. Shoppers came from 192 countries in total, based on tax-refund data.
Is Olive Young's foreign sales growth only happening in Seoul?
No. The company reports that foreign sales grew faster outside Seoul, with Gangwon up 105% and Busan up 85%, against 41% for Seoul. These are growth rates, not totals.
Verified as of November 5, 2026. Figures are company-reported and may be revised in later releases.
Sources
- CJ Group Newsroom (CJ뉴스) — CJ Olive Young foreign sales release (2026-08-31)
- Bizwatch (비즈워치) — Olive Young foreign sales report (2026-08-31)
- Dailypharm (데일리팜) — Olive Young foreign sales share 33%, cumulative purchases 1 trillion won (2026-08-31)
- MTN (머니투데이방송) — Olive Young opens Central Myeongdong Town (2026-03-26)
- SBS Biz — September 2026 foreign visitors, Korea Tourism Organization data (2026-10-28)