Seoul City Disaster Emergency Living Expenses, 80% Spent on Livelihood Consumption

Concentration in Distribution, Food Service, and Food & Beverage Industries

On April 16, a citizen is receiving consultation on Seoul's disaster emergency living expenses support related to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at Cheongunhyoja-dong Resident Center in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The 'Seoul City Emergency Disaster Living Expenses,' designed to support the livelihood stability of citizens affected by the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), have been analyzed to be used as originally intended for essential living expenses such as supermarkets, convenience stores, restaurants, and agricultural and livestock product vendors.

Seoul City announced on the 21st that, based on big data analysis of 210.7 billion KRW spent on Seoul City Emergency Disaster Living Expenses through the 17th, expenditures in three sectors?distribution (supermarkets, convenience stores, etc.), dining (restaurants), and groceries (agricultural, marine products, butcher shops, etc.)?accounted for 79.4% of the total, indicating that most of the spending was on 'livelihood consumption.'

In terms of amount, 94.2 billion KRW (44.7%) was spent in the distribution sector, 46.3 billion KRW (22.0%) in the dining sector, which experienced the largest sales decline after COVID-19, and 26.7 billion KRW (12.7%) in groceries. This was followed by medical expenses (7.1%), clothing and miscellaneous goods (4.6%), sports, culture, and leisure (2.0%), beauty (2.0%), and education and academy fees (1.5%).

Meanwhile, as of the application deadline on the 15th of this month, which started on March 30th, a total of 2.23 million households applied. The city expects that about 1.64 million households, or 75% of all applicants, will receive support, while the remaining 25% will be excluded due to reasons such as exceeding income criteria. This number is approximately 500,000 households more than the initially estimated 1.17 million eligible households.

The city explained that the higher-than-expected applications from one- and two-person households were due to a large number of university students, job seekers, non-regular young workers, and elderly households with incomes below the median income (1-person household: 1,757,194 KRW; 2-person household: 2,991,980 KRW). Additionally, by allowing approximately 85,000 cohabitants, who might be in blind spots for support, to apply as separate households, the number of eligible recipients increased.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.