SEOUL, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Retail sale in South Korea's southern resort island of Jeju kept a double-digit fall for the third consecutive quarter as the number of tourists to the island tumbled on worry about the COVID-19 pandemic, statistical office data showed Tuesday.

Retail sale, which reflects private consumption, plunged 30.4 percent in the July-September quarter from a year ago, according to Statistics Korea.

It marked the biggest quarterly decline since relevant data began to be compiled in 2020. The retail sale retreated 14.9 percent in the first quarter and 28.1 percent in the second quarter respectively.

It was attributable to the sharp reduction in the number of travelers to the resort island, which dived 79.4 percent during the third quarter.

Retail sales in four major cities, including the capital Seoul and the southeastern port city of Busan, slipped in single figures, but those in other provinces and cities managed to grow as people increased consumption in convenience stores and mom-and-pop stores.

The COVID-19 resurged here in August and September due to small cluster infections linked to church services and a massive rally in central Seoul on Aug. 15.

The government raised its social-distancing regulations for the cited two months, before easing it in early October amid the slowing growth in confirmed COVID-19 cases.

In the latest tally, South Korea reported 100 more cases of COVID-19 for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 27,653. The daily caseload stayed above 100 for the third consecutive day. Enditem

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