The nation's five major department stores saw their sales jump on the first day of the large-scale Korea Sale Festa shopping event on Thursday.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Saturday that sales at the five department store chains including Lotte and Shinsegae on the first day were 24-point-one percent higher compared to October first last year, which was the first day of the Korea Black Friday event.

The figure is up nearly 57 percent compared to Thursday, October second in 2014 when there was no particular sale campaign going on.

Sales at large retailers such as E-mart and Lotte Mart edged up half-a-percent on Thursday compared to the first day of last year's Black Friday event. The ministry said the sale event had little effect on Thursday as large retailers usually draw high demand on the weekend.

For sales figures of distributors, the day, rather than the date, is compared because sales vastly differ according to the day of the week.

The Korea Sale Festa will continue for eleven days while other tourist programs and festivities continue through the end of October. The nation's largest shopping and tourism festival in size to date is the result of merging the previously held Korea Black Friday event and the Korea Grand Sale.