Friday, August 22nd, 2014
SEOUL, KOREA - As more and more families prefer packaged foods that are easy to handle and clean, the sales of seafood have declined more than 800 billion won in three years. This trend is amplified by the fear of radioactive pollution triggered by the Fukushima earthquake in 2011.
According to a report "Impact of the Japanese Radioactive Leakage Incident on Domestic Consumption of Seafood and Farm Goods" published recently by the Korea Rural Economic Institute, as well as the data made available from the National Statistical Office and the Bank of Korea, last year's total seafood consumption (including processed seafood items) was 6,673.8 billion won, down 10.9 percent (817.2 billion won) from 7,491.0 billion won in 2010.
In the first quarter, the share of seafood in total food expenditure was 10.9 percent, up 0.1 percentage point from last year of 10.8 percent. The ratio of seafood consumption in total food consumption has been on a declining trend from 12.0 percent in 2010 to 12.3 percent in 2011, and 11.3 percent in 2012.
The biggest reason for this is the change in family structure, most notably a transition from larger families to single families or those with a few children. As double-income families increase, they also stay away from cooking difficult-to-handle dishes such as fish. Of the monthly average spending on food by households, the share of fresh seafood such as hairtail, mackerel, and squid fell to 21,984 won in the first quarter of 2013 from 23,495 won in the first quarter of 2010.
In contrast, the spending on dry fish like anchovies and pollack has risen to 8,950 won from 6,925 won during the same period. The spending on processed seafood, including packaged and cleaned, has also increased during the same period to 6,700 won from 5,451 won.