"Honey, I bought a meal kit, let's eat home-cooked food"... The decline in rice consumption is also slowing down

Statistics Korea '2023 Rice Consumption Survey'

Last year, the per capita rice consumption in South Korea was 56.4 kg, showing a slight decrease compared to the previous year. The government analyzes that the decline in rice consumption has slowed down due to the increase in meal kits such as soups and side dishes.

According to the "2023 Grain Consumption Survey" released by Statistics Korea on the 26th, the annual per capita rice consumption in the household sector in 2023 was 56.4 kg, a decrease of 0.3 kg (0.6%) from 56.7 kg in the previous year.

Although rice consumption continued to decline due to changes in dietary habits, the rate of decrease has slowed. The recent decline rates were 3.0% in 2019, 2.5% in 2020, 1.4% in 2021, and 0.4% in 2022, with an average decrease rate of 0.9% over the past three years.

Rice is displayed on the shelves of a large supermarket in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained, "As social activities increased with the gradual return to normal life after COVID-19, overall meal skipping decreased. In addition, with the expansion of the meal kit market (such as soups and side dishes), home meal consumption increased, reducing the recent decline in rice consumption."

In 2023, the consumption of processed rice in the business sector totaled 817,000 tons, a sharp increase of 126,000 tons (18.2%) compared to 691,000 tons in 2022.

By industry, demand for snacks, grain processed products, sauces, and alcohol production increased by more than 20% compared to the previous year. On the other hand, demand for noodles (-13.6%) and other ready-to-eat foods (-10.0%) decreased. In particular, rice cakes have steadily increased over the past four years (159,000 tons in 2020 → 214,000 tons in 2023). The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs analyzed that this is due to the increase in events after the return to normal life and the recent Tteokbokki craze, which has boosted demand for Tteokbokki rice cakes.

Jeon Han-young, Director of Food Policy at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "To alleviate the oversupply structure of rice, we will continue to develop various policies to promote rice consumption and strengthen publicity. We will reinforce policies to establish healthy rice-centered eating habits, such as the '1,000 Won Breakfast,' and foster the growing rice processing industry to promote the co-growth of related upstream and downstream industries."

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