Seoul’s bars are losing their youngest customers, and they’re losing them fastest after midnight. That’s not a hunch from behind a bar or a booth. It comes from 127 million card payments.
In September 2026, NH NongHyup Bank (NH농협은행) published a trend report called NH Trend+ that looked at how 7.38 million of its personal card customers spent money in the first half of 2026, set against the same months of 2023. The headline was blunt: card payments at general bars, or 일반주점 (ilban jujeom), fell by a third, and payments by people in their 20s fell by more than half.
For anyone who programs a night, plays one or books one, the interesting part isn’t the decline itself. Plenty of people have noticed emptier second rounds. It’s the shape of it: which hours emptied out, who stayed and where the money went instead.
한국어 요약
술집을 떠난 20대, 밤은 어떻게 바뀌고 있나
NH농협은행의 ‘NH트렌드+’ 보고서(2026년 9월)에 따르면 개인 카드 고객 738만 명의 결제 1억2700만 건을 분석한 결과, 2026년 상반기 일반주점 결제 건수는 2023년 상반기보다 34%, 결제 금액은 30% 줄었습니다. 20대의 결제 건수는 52% 감소했고, 60대 이상만 9% 늘었습니다.
감소 폭은 밤이 깊을수록 컸습니다. 오후 6~7시는 29% 줄었지만 자정 이후는 42~43% 줄어, 2차와 3차 문화가 빠르게 사라지고 있음을 보여 줍니다. 대신 수영장(+59%), 스포츠센터(+25%), 당구장(+16%) 이용이 늘었고, 노래방과 오락실 결제의 57% 이상을 20대가 차지했습니다.
클럽과 파티 기획자에게 이 숫자는 더 이른 피크 타임, 제대로 된 무알코올 메뉴, 그리고 술 말고도 할 거리가 있는 밤이 필요하다는 신호입니다.
What the Bank Data Actually Says
The report compares the first half of 2026 with the first half of 2023, with 2023 set as an index of 100. Across all customers, the number of payments at general bars dropped 34% and the amount spent dropped 30%. Spending fell a little less than visits, which suggests the people still going out are spending slightly more per visit, not that more people are going out.
The age split is where it gets stark. People in their 20s fell to an index of 48, a 52% drop in three years. People in their 30s fell to 65 and people in their 40s to 60. Those in their 50s held up better at 76. The only group that went out to bars more often was people aged 60 and over, who rose to 109. Put another way, people in their 20s made 34% of all bar payments in the first half of 2023 and only 25% by the first half of 2026, while the share of people aged 60 and over rose from 12% to 19%, according to Shinailbo’s report on the data.
Bar payments by age
Number of card payments at general bars, first half of 2026. First half of 2023 = 100.
The later it gets, the bigger the drop
Fall in weekday bar payments by hour, first half of 2026 against first half of 2023.
The Night Is Ending Earlier
The decline isn’t spread evenly across the evening. Weekday bar payments between 6 and 7pm fell 29%. Between 9 and 10pm they fell 35%. After that the drop gets steeper: 40% between 11pm and midnight, 42% between midnight and 1am and 43% after 1am, as Korea Economic TV reported.
The report reads that pattern as the fading of the second and third round, the old 1차, 2차, 3차 (ilcha, icha, samcha) rhythm of dinner, then drinks somewhere else, then singing or more drinks somewhere after that. People are still meeting for the first round. Fewer of them are moving on.
That matters well beyond bars. A lot of Seoul’s club economy was built on the third round: the crowd that arrives at 1am after two places already, warmed up and ready to stay until the first train. If that crowd is thinning, a room that doesn’t fill until 1am is going to feel it first.
Where the Money Went Instead
The same report tracked spending that grew over the same period. Payments at swimming pools rose to an index of 159, up 59%. Sports centres rose 25% and billiard halls rose 16%. Not every hobby grew: bowling alleys fell 37%, and golf courses and driving ranges both fell 15%.
The most telling numbers for nightlife are about who pays where. In the first half of 2026, people in their 20s made 57.7% of all card payments at karaoke rooms, 노래방 (noraebang), and 57.0% at arcades and game rooms. At general bars, their share was 25%. Young people haven’t stopped going out at night. They’ve stopped paying for nights that are only about the drink.
The bank put it plainly in its own summary, quoted by Segye Ilbo: drinking is falling among younger people, while spending that puts personal taste and light leisure first is getting stronger.
Why It’s Happening
The bank data fits a wider pattern. Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency figures reported by the Korea Economic Daily show that in 2024, 56% of people aged 19 to 29 drank once a month or less, or not at all, a record high and up from 37.9% when the survey began in 2005. The Korea Herald reported in April 2026 that the share of adults who binge drink at least once a month had fallen for two years in a row.
The same Korea Economic Daily piece found bar owners in Gangnam describing customers who make a single highball last three or four hours, and National Tax Service counts showing the number of hof style beer pubs down 9.5% by the end of 2025. Cost plays a part, as does a generation that spent its first university years in lockdown and never learned the team dinner habits. So does a broader shift toward health and routine, the next morning mattering more than the last round.
Government health survey figures published alongside the bank data by The Herald Business point the same way. The share of men in their 20s who drink at least once a month fell from 76.9% in 2016 to 66.1% in 2025, and for women in their 20s from 64.6% to 58.6%. High risk drinking among men in their 20s fell from 17.8% to 10.4% over the same years. HuffPost Korea added that Korea’s liquor shipments dropped below three million kilolitres in 2025 for the first time in 27 years, with beer and soju down three years running.
It isn’t simply a global story. HuffPost Korea also cited an IWSR survey of 15 major drinks markets in which the share of Gen Z who had drunk in the past six months actually rose, from 66% to 74%, while the amount drunk per occasion fell. Young people in many countries still drink. They drink less at a time, and more selectively, which is close to what the Seoul card data shows.
What the Numbers Don’t Cover
This is one bank’s data, and it covers personal card payments only. Cash, company cards, payments through other banks and anything bought on a ticketing site aren’t in it. The category is general bars, so it says nothing direct about clubs, live houses or other venue types, which are recorded differently. And because the base is the first half of 2023, part of the drop may be the post pandemic surge of 2023 settling down, rather than a pure change in habits. Card payments also measure where money is spent, not how much anyone drinks. As HuffPost Korea pointed out, the falls among people in their 30s, 40s and 50s suggest rising prices and changes to office dinners play a part too, not just a younger generation’s choices.
None of that undoes the direction. A 52% fall in one age group, with the deepest losses after midnight, is a big enough signal to plan around even with those limits in mind.
What This Means for Clubs, Promoters and DJs
The first change is the clock. If the late crowd is shrinking, the strongest part of the night should arrive earlier. Doors at 8 or 9pm, a peak before midnight and a proper close for the people who still want to stay make more sense than a room that’s empty until 1am. Day parties and early evening sessions, long common in other cities, fit the data better than ever.
The second is the bar list. A crowd that cares about the next morning will still pay for a good drink if it isn’t alcohol. Low and no alcohol options that are made with the same care as the cocktails, priced fairly and not hidden at the bottom of the menu, are now part of keeping people in the room.
The third is giving people something to do. The categories that grew, from karaoke to arcades to billiards, are all active. Nights that pair music with a listening session, a workshop, a game, a screening or a reason to talk tend to hold a younger crowd longer than nights built around the bar tab. A good DJ set is already that kind of reason. It just has to start early enough for people to hear it.
For anyone booking a DJ for a private or corporate event, the same logic applies. Plan the music around when guests are actually there, which increasingly means dinner to 11pm, not midnight to 3am.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the NH Trend+ report?
NH Trend+ is a consumer trend report from NH NongHyup Bank built on its own card payment data. The September 2026 edition analysed 127 million payments by 7.38 million personal card customers, comparing the first half of 2026 with the first half of 2023.
How much has bar spending in Korea fallen?
According to the report, the number of card payments at general bars fell 34% and the amount spent fell 30% between the first half of 2023 and the first half of 2026.
Are young Koreans drinking less?
Yes, by several measures. Bar payments by people in their 20s fell 52% in the NH data, and government health figures show 56% of people aged 19 to 29 drank once a month or less, or not at all, in 2024.
What time are Seoul bars losing the most customers?
After midnight. Weekday bar payments fell 29% between 6 and 7pm but 42% between midnight and 1am and 43% after 1am.
What are young people spending on instead?
Pools, sports centres and billiard halls grew, and people in their 20s made more than 57% of all card payments at karaoke rooms and arcades in the first half of 2026.
Sources and Further Reading
- Shinailbo: 술집 떠나는 20대…3년 만에 이용 건수 52% 급감 (8 Sep 2026)
- Korea Economic TV: “술집에 20대는 없어요”…주점 이용 3년 만에 ‘반토막’ (8 Sep 2026)
- Korea Economic Daily: 물장사는 끝났다? (April 2026)
- Korea Herald via Asia News Network: South Koreans turn away from heavy drinking (April 2026)
- Segye Ilbo: “술집서 20대가 사라졌다”…3년 새 결제 52% 급감, 새벽엔 43% ‘뚝’ (9 Sep 2026)
- The Herald Business: Bar visits by Koreans in their 20s halve as late night drinking plunges (9 Sep 2026)
- Seoul Economic Daily: “요즘 젊은이들 다 어디로 간거야” 했더니…술집 대신 ‘여기’로 몰려갔다 (9 Sep 2026)
- HuffPost Korea: 요즘 20대 술 안 마신다? 일반주점 결제 반토막의 진짜 이유 (8 Sep 2026)
- WikiTree: “20대 술자리 3년 새 반토막”…달라진 음주 문화 보여주는 조사 결과 (12 Sep 2026)
- Korea Herald via Inquirer: S. Koreans turning away from heavy drinking (April 2026)
- The DJ Diaries Nightlife Report: what our own survey found
Written from Seoul, by someone who has been in the booth for more than twenty years. More on the site, or book a DJ.
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