How Many Chickens Do Koreans Eat Per Year... Per Capita Consumption Has Increased

Rural Development Administration Survey "Increased Consumption of Chicken and Duck Meat"
Rise in Ready-to-Eat Meal Consumption Offsets Decline in Delivery Orders

Per capita consumption of chicken and duck meat among adults in South Korea increased compared to 2020. However, home delivery consumption decreased, while consumption of ready-to-eat meals increased.

According to the 'Poultry Consumption Survey' released by the Rural Development Administration on the 3rd, this year’s chicken consumption was 16.51 kg per person, and duck consumption was 3.65 kg per person. Compared to the 2020 survey, chicken consumption increased by 0.74 kg and duck consumption by 0.72 kg.

Looking at the details, home delivery consumption of chicken slightly decreased from 3.29 kg in 2020 to 3.10 kg this year. On the other hand, home consumption of ready-to-eat meals increased from 1.91 kg in 2020 to 2.19 kg this year. Most chicken franchises in South Korea mainly use size 10 chickens weighing about 1 kg (951g~1050g) per bird.

This change is analyzed as a result of ready-to-eat meal products such as meal kits, which satisfy consumers with product variety and cooking convenience, replacing delivery and dining-out demand. Additionally, due to the economic downturn and rising chicken prices, consumers have turned to relatively affordable ready-to-eat meals.

Kyochon Chicken raised the prices of its products by up to 3,000 won in April. The most popular menu item, Honey Combo, increased from 20,000 won to 23,000 won. Considering delivery fees, ordering one whole chicken costs nearly 30,000 won.

As delivery prices have sharply risen, the food and distribution industries have actively launched ready-to-eat meals. CJ CheilJedang’s ‘Gourmet Sobaba Chicken,’ released in April, surpassed 30 billion won in sales within six months of launch.

The main purchase channel for chicken was large supermarkets (75.2%), followed by online specialty shopping malls (40%). Next were agricultural cooperative marts (30.5%) and corporate supermarkets (30.3%). Notably, offline purchases decreased overall compared to 2020, while online purchases increased significantly.

The primary reason for using offline channels such as large supermarkets was "trustworthy purchase," while online specialty shopping malls were favored for being "affordable."

Meanwhile, awareness of various livestock product certification systems was high (antibiotic-free livestock products 75.5%, animal welfare livestock farms 73.9%, organic livestock products 52.7%), but knowledge of the details was low: animal welfare livestock farms 19.4%, antibiotic-free livestock products 17.5%, and organic livestock products 10.9%.

This year’s poultry meat consumption survey of Koreans was conducted from September 13 to 25, targeting 2,000 adult men and women aged 20 to 69 nationwide.

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