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Consumers tighten the belt on dining out, eating in on soaring food prices

Published: 05 May. 2025, 19:59

Restaurant menus are displayed on a street in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, on March 16. [NEWS1]

Is Korea going on a diet, or just on a tight budget? For the first time since 2005, when data collection began, spending on both dining out and eating at home declined for two consecutive years.

One example is a worker in his 50s surnamed Sohn who supports his wife and two sons and has recently started trimming the family’s food budget.

They’ve halved the number of times they eat out. When they do, they now choose casual noodle or rice soup joints over more expensive family restaurant chains.

At home, grocery spending has also tightened. On shopping trips, Sohn picks pork over beef and grabs only discounted items like “buy one, get one free” processed goods.

“My income hasn’t changed much, but private education costs are soaring and I can’t reduce those,” he said. “So we’re saving on food instead.”

The restaurant production index, which reflects dining-out consumption, fell 0.7 percent in 2023 and dropped a further 1.9 percent last year, according to Statistics Korea on Monday. The retail sales index for food and beverages, which indicates spending on home meals, declined 3 percent in 2023 and 1.5 percent last year.

That downward trend appears to be continuing into 2025. In the first quarter, the restaurant production index shrank 3.4 percent from a year earlier, while the retail food index slipped 0.3 percent.

Dining out and eating at home typically move in opposite directions, compensating for one another. People tend to reduce eating at home when they eat out more, and vice versa. But in the post-pandemic inflationary environment, households are cutting back on both.

“This is an unusual trend and reflects how severely domestic consumption has contracted,” said Jung Kyu-chul, head of macroeconomic analysis and economic forecasting at the Korea Development Institute.

Customers shop for items at a supermarket in Seoul on April 13. [YONHAP]

Although inflation has shown signs of stability this year — with the monthly consumer price index rising between 2 and 2.2 percent on year for four consecutive months — cumulative price hikes since the pandemic have been steep. Compared to 2020, prices have climbed over 16 percent.

Food-related inflation in particular remains high. Last month, processed food prices rose 4.1 percent, the sharpest increase since December 2023. Dining-out prices also climbed 3.2 percent, the largest jump in 13 months.

Posts on popular forums used by office workers frequently share similar strategies, such as skipping meals altogether or cutting out coffee and desserts to save money.

“I often eat at a public institution cafeteria nearby, where a meal costs around 5,000 won [$4]. It’s cheaper than restaurants or cooking at home, and it’s more nutritionally balanced too,” Shin, a 37-year-old office worker in Seoul, said.

More people are turning to workplace cafeterias as a cheaper alternative.

The restaurant industry business survey index stood at a lackluster 71.52 in the fourth quarter, while the institutional cafeteria sector scored 96.31 — the highest among all segments — according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The institutional food service production index also rose 3.3 percent last year.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM MIN-JOONG [[email protected]]