Alcohol Consumption Decreases after IMF Bail Out

Alcohol consumption per person has decreased sharply since the IMF bailout. The total sum of alcohol consumed by Korean people during 1998 decreased by 8.8 percent from 762,000 kiloliters to 695,000 kiloliters.
The amount of alcohol consumed by each Korean also decreased by 14.8 percent and 10.2 percent from 17.6 liters in 1996 and 16.7 liters in 1997 to 15.0 liters, respectively.
The consumption of expensive alcohol including beer and whiskey specifically decreased. Until November, the sales of beer dropped by 17.4 percent from 1.29 million liters to 1.69 million liters and that of whiskey fell by 20.2 percent from 37,000 liters to 30,000 liters.
However, the sales of Soju, Korea's national alcohol, increased by 4.8 percent from 656,000 liters to 687,000 liters. A source at an alcohol company said, 'The total consumption of Korean alcohol decreased due to the sluggish economy.'