Household Alcohol Spending... Increased by 30% During COVID-19

Household Alcohol Spending in Q2 Last Year Increased by 27.8% Over 3 Years

Sangjin Lee (36), an office worker, has been drinking alone at home more often since the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, he rarely drank alone at home due to frequent social drinking outside, but as company dinners and gatherings decreased after COVID-19, he naturally started enjoying drinks at home. Lee said, “At first, it felt a bit awkward, but now I enjoy drinking quietly and comfortably. Recently, social drinking occasions have increased again, but I have become accustomed to home drinking and drinking alone, so I prefer to drink leisurely by myself at home.”

As home drinking and solo drinking began to spread due to restrictions on outdoor activities after COVID-19, these have established themselves as a drinking culture. In fact, the amount spent on purchasing alcoholic beverages has increased by nearly 30% over three years.

According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute on the 1st, household expenditure on alcoholic beverages in the second quarter of last year increased by 27.8% compared to the second quarter of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. The household expenditure on alcoholic beverage items, which was about 13,547 KRW in the second quarter of 2019, rose to 16,996 KRW in the second quarter of 2021, and further increased to 17,320 KRW last year.

This increase far exceeds the monthly average increase in food expenses. The average monthly food expenditure per household in the second quarter of last year was 714,194 KRW, up 8.2% compared to the same period in 2019, and 4.1% higher than the previous quarter. The proportion of alcoholic beverages within total processed food expenditure is also rising. The share of alcohol expenditure was 7.6% in the second quarter of 2019, 8.2% in the second quarter of 2021, and 8.4% in the second quarter of last year, increasing by 0.8 percentage points over three years.

Among the surveyed items, the only category that showed a higher increase in expenditure than alcoholic beverages was oils such as sesame oil and cooking oil, whose demand surged as dining out decreased during COVID-19 and more households cooked at home. During this period, expenditure on oils rose from 2,170 KRW to 3,732 KRW, a 72.0% increase, and their expenditure share increased from 1.2% to 1.8%.

The increase in spending on alcoholic beverage purchases is undoubtedly due to strengthened quarantine measures during COVID-19, which reduced external drinking occasions such as company dinners. A representative from the alcohol industry explained, “During the COVID period, dining out and company dinners sharply declined, shifting the sales channels from traditional entertainment venues like bars to home channels such as convenience stores, which became the main sales axis and showed clear sales growth.”

Convenience stores, which emerged as key outlets for alcohol purchases during the pandemic, have also shown a continuous upward sales trend. CU’s mobile alcohol reservation and purchase service ‘CU Bar’ through its own app ‘Pocket CU’ has been growing at an annual average rate of 120%. Launched in 2020, it currently sells over 1,200 products including beer, wine, and whiskey, with sales growing 5.5 times compared to the initial period. Recently, Emart24’s alcohol sales during the Lunar New Year holiday increased by 1.6 times compared to the previous week.