More people opting to cook at home instead of ordering delivery

Delivery motorcycles are parked on a street in Yongsan District, central Seoul, on April 18, 2022. [YONHAP]

More people are now cooking their own meals instead of ordering food deliveries, according to various statistics.

The number of monthly active users for Korea's three largest food delivery apps Baedal Minjok, Yogiyo and Coupang Eats dropped by 1.68 million on year in January, according to Mobile Index, a statistical analyst company for mobile apps.

The total time spent using food delivery apps for Android users decreased 4 percent in January from December. In contrast, usage of "10k Recipes," a cooking app, increased 10 percent during the same period.

The increase in people using the cooking app was seen mostly in women in their 40s, which increased by 14 percent, followed by women in their 30s by 9 percent and women in their 50s by 8 percent, according to Mobile Index data.

Big data researchers at 10k Recipes listed factors such as the lifting of the mask mandate, economic hardship, high interest rates and high exchange rates as the main causes for the trend.

The food delivery market shrunk because of the decrease in demand for food delivery, which had grown under social distancing regulations, and also because of the rise in food and delivery prices, they added. More people ended up using cooking apps as homemade meals were more affordable.

According to the Bank of Korea, the Consumer Composite Sentiment Index (CCSI), which measures the level of confidence that consumers have in factors such as prospective household income and prospective spending, was at 90.7. Marks above 100 indicate that people are generally more confident in spending. Korea's CCSI has been falling short of 100 for seven months.

Meanwhile, the utility prices have increased 28.3 percent on year in January, an all-time high increase according to Statistics Korea.

BY HAN JEE-HYE [sohn.dongjoo@joongang.co.kr]