Spending on both dining out and eating at home dropped for the first time since the collection of relevant data started in 2005.
Soaring restaurant prices send would-be diners back home to cook, as the cost of eating out climbed 2.1 percent on year in April.
Korea's favorite restaurant meals rose around 4 percent over last year, with gimbap up 5.3 percent and fried chicken up 5.2 percent.
Soju prices are falling at Korea's convenience stores and supermarkets, but restaurants are reluctant to do the same amid rising operational costs.
Rising prices in Korea are affecting year-end parties, with people opting for cheaper meals and skipping second rounds of drinks.
Prices for HiteJinro’s soju and beer brands rose on Thursday, but restaurants in Seoul have hesitated to raise prices on soju sold in-store despite the increased costs.
Young Koreans are preferring a home-packed lunch and packaged meals over eating out amid surging consumer prices. Koreans in their 20s spent 6.6 percent less at restaurants in the second quarter than they did in the first quarter, according...
Workers are gradually returning to their offices as the Covid-19 pandemic comes to a close, but their wallets are taking a hit with rising lunch prices, or so-called lunchflation.
Food prices in Korea have risen so much this year that a single gimbap roll now costs more than 3,000 won ($2.17), an increase of 11.5 percent from a year earlier.
Food prices surged rapidly as people started dining out more after most of the country's social distancing measures were lifted in May. The dining-out price index rose by 4.2 percent from December through May, ...
Korea JoongAng Daily Sitemap
