Korea retail sales rose in June according to government data measuring major department stores and discount chains.

The government said the year-on-year increase was fuelled by more holidays.

The combined sales of three department stores – Hyundai, Lotte and Shinsegae – increased 11.8 per cent on-year in June, while those of major discount retailers – E-Mart, Lotte Mart and Home Plus – edged up 0.9 per cent during the same period, according to the data compiled by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

The ministry said sales went up as the number of holidays increased by one day from a year earlier.

Sales at convenience stores jumped 18 per cent on-year last month, boosted by “a dramatic rise in food sales”, mostly of instant food. Convenience stores have retained double-digit growth rates since the last quarter of 2014 amid rising single-person households.

The number of single-person households was estimated at 5.06 million in 2015, 7.7 times higher than the 661,000 households of 1985, according to the report by the state-run Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs.

Meanwhile, sales at hypermarkets, mostly run by large retailers, slid 7.8 per cent on-year.

• Story courtesy of Korea Bizwire. Original reporting by Yonhap.