환율 하락에 면세점 기준환율 1400원→1350원…7월 매출 77.3%는 외국인
Duty-Free Shops Cut Their Rate to 1,350 Won; Foreigners Made 77.3% of July Sales
Part of the September 14, 2026 daily edition
원·달러 환율은 9월 9일 전 거래일보다 9.5원(0.7%) 내린 1336.1원에 주간 거래를 마쳤습니다. 주간 종가가 1330원대로 내려온 것은 2024년 10월 4일(1333.7원) 이후 약 1년 11개월 만입니다. 이에 롯데·신라·신세계·현대면세점은 달러당 1400원이던 기준환율을 1350원으로 50원 내리기로 했습니다. 환율이 내려가면 면세점 가격은 다시 싸지지만, 면세점 매출의 대부분은 외국인이 차지합니다. 지난 7월 국내 면세점의 외국인 매출은 8248억5000만원으로 전체의 77.3%를 차지했고, 외국인 1인당 구매액은 63만원으로 내국인 18만원의 3배를 웃돌았습니다. 한 면세점 관계자는 환율이 1500원대일 때 확보한 재고를 1300원대에 팔면 환차손이나 마진 축소 부담이 생길 수 있다고 설명했습니다.
Translation
On 9 September the won-dollar exchange rate closed daytime trading at 1,336.1 won, down 9.5 won (0.7%) from the previous trading day. It was the first time in about a year and eleven months, since 4 October 2024 (1,333.7 won), that the daytime close had come down into the 1,330s. In response, Lotte, Shilla, Shinsegae and Hyundai duty-free shops decided to lower the reference exchange rate they use from 1,400 won per dollar to 1,350 won, a cut of 50 won. When the rate falls, duty-free goods become cheaper again, but most duty-free sales come from foreigners. In July, sales to foreigners at Korean duty-free shops were 824.85 billion won, 77.3% of the total, and foreigners spent 630,000 won each, more than three times the 180,000 won spent by Koreans. A duty-free official explained that selling stock bought when the rate was in the 1,500s at a rate in the 1,300s can bring exchange losses or squeezed margins.
Vocabulary
- 환율명사 (noun)an exchange rate
- 거래일명사 (noun)a trading day
- 종가명사 (noun)a closing price
- 면세점명사 (noun)a duty-free shop
- 기준환율명사 (noun)a reference exchange rate
- 매출명사 (noun)sales, revenue
- 재고명사 (noun)stock, inventory
- 환차손명사 (noun)an exchange loss
Grammar points
N 만이다it is the first time in N (a span of time)
N 만이다 after a length of time says that something has happened again for the first time in that span. 1년 11개월 만입니다 means the last time the close was this low was a year and eleven months ago. The sentence usually names the earlier date too, as here with 2024년 10월 4일.
Example: 주간 종가가 1330원대로 내려온 것은 2024년 10월 4일 이후 약 1년 11개월 만입니다.
It is the first time in about a year and eleven months, since 4 October 2024, that the daytime close has come down into the 1,330s.
N을/를 웃돌다to exceed, to be above N
N을/를 웃돌다 means to come in above a figure, and its opposite 밑돌다 to come in below. 3배를 웃돌았다 says the ratio was more than three to one, so the writer is giving a floor, not an exact multiple. Both verbs are staples of economic reporting.
Example: 외국인 1인당 구매액은 63만원으로 내국인 18만원의 3배를 웃돌았습니다.
Foreigners spent 630,000 won each, more than three times the 180,000 won spent by Koreans.
-지만but, although
-지만 sets up the dilemma at the heart of this story: prices get cheaper, but the customers are mostly foreigners who gain nothing from a stronger won. When -지만 appears in an economic article, the clause after it usually carries the complication the headline is about.
Example: 환율이 내려가면 면세점 가격은 다시 싸지지만, 면세점 매출의 대부분은 외국인이 차지합니다.
When the rate falls duty-free prices get cheaper again, but most duty-free sales come from foreigners.
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