Between 6 and 7pm on a weekday, card payments at Korea’s general bars are down 29% on three years ago. After 1am, they’re down 43%. Those numbers come from 127 million card payments, and they describe the exact hours a club night depends on.
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. 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. The late rounds are emptying first, the youngest customers are leaving fastest, and the money they used to spend on drinks has moved to nights with something to do.
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.
People in Their 20s Cut Bar Payments by More Than Half
The report sets the first half of 2023 as an index of 100 and measures the first half of 2026 against it. 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 spend slightly more per visit, not that more people are going out.
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 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 to bars more often was people aged 60 and over, who rose to 109.
Measured as a share of all bar payments, people in their 20s made 34% 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.
The Second and Third Rounds Are Disappearing
The decline isn’t spread evenly across the evening. Weekday bar payments between 6 and 7pm fell 29%, and 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 after that. People still meet for the first round. Fewer of them move 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 will feel it first. The way the night runs in rounds is its own story, told in how Korean club culture developed its own rules.
The Money Moved to Nights With Something to Do
The same report tracked the spending that grew. 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%.
Where the Bar Money Went
Card payments by category, first half of 2026, with the first half of 2023 as 100
술집 대신 어디로 갔나
Where the money wentAn index, so 100 means no change since 2023. Pools, gyms and billiards grew. Bars lost a third. Track runs from 0 to 160.
Who pays whereThe share of payments made by people in their 20s. They still go out at night. They stop paying for nights that are only about the drink. Track runs from 0 to 100 percent.
Hof style pubs in Korea. Above 30,000 before 2020, below 20,000 for the first time in May 2026. Track runs from 0 to 30,000.
16.6% to 33.3% of people in their 20s and 30s had a non alcoholic drink in the past month, 2024 against 2026. The demand for a real no alcohol list is already here.
Sources: Financial News · Hankyung
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 still go out at night; what they’ve dropped is the night that’s 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. Seoul Economic Daily and WikiTree ran the same numbers the same week.
Young Koreans Drink Less Often, and Less at a Time
The bank data fits a wider pattern. Government health survey figures published alongside it by The Herald Business show the share of men in their 20s who drink at least once a month falling 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.
Fewer People in Their 20s Drink Every Month
Share who drink at least once a month, and high risk drinking among men, 2016 against 2025
20대 음주율, 2016년과 2025년
How to read itThe top four bars are monthly drinkers; the last two are high risk drinkers among men in their 20s, which fell by about two fifths. Track runs from 0 to 100 percent.
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. 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.
The same Korea Economic Daily piece found bar owners in Gangnam (강남) describing customers who make a single highball last three or four hours, and National Tax Service counts showing the number of hof (호프) style beer pubs down 9.5% by the end of 2025. Cost plays a part, and so 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, with the next morning mattering more than the last round.
It isn’t only a Korean story, and it isn’t a simple one. 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 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 Korean 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. Card payments also measure where money is spent, not how much anyone drinks.
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. And 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.
How Clubs, Promoters and DJs Can Respond
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 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. Our list of alternatives to clubbing in Seoul shows what that already looks like.
For anyone booking a DJ for a private or corporate event, the same logic applies. Plan the music around when guests are 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. Payments by people in their 20s fell 52%.
Are young Koreans drinking less?
Yes, by several measures. Government health figures show 56% of people aged 19 to 29 drank once a month or less, or not at all, in 2024, and the share of men in their 20s who drink monthly fell from 76.9% in 2016 to 66.1% in 2025.
What time are 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, which points to the second and third rounds fading.
Further Reading
- The DJ Diaries Seoul Nightlife Report: what our own survey found
- How Korean club culture developed its own rules
- Alternatives to clubbing in Seoul
- Where the money goes in dance music
Sources
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 (9 Sep 2026)
Seoul Economic Daily: 요즘 젊은이들 다 어디로 간거야, 술집 대신 여기로 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)
Financial News: hof pub numbers (October 2026)
Hankyung: non alcoholic drinks among people in their 20s and 30s (September 2026)
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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