"Not Cash"… What Is the No.1 Seol Gift Chosen by 4 out of 10 People?

PMI Survey of 3,000 Adults
1st Place 'Health Functional Foods'... 2nd Place 'Cash and Gift Certificates'

A survey revealed that 6 out of 10 adults plan to give gifts to family or acquaintances during this Seol holiday.

On the 3rd, data consulting firm PMI announced the results of a survey conducted from January 23 to 26 targeting 3,000 men and women aged 20 to 69 nationwide, asking about "gifts planned to be given to family or acquaintances during the Seol holiday (multiple responses allowed)." According to the results, 60% of respondents said they plan to give Seol gifts, with 'health functional foods' ranking first at 38.2% as the most popular gift type.

Next were ▲cash/gift certificates (36.9%) ▲fruit gift sets (35.7%) ▲meat gift sets (23.3%) ▲daily necessities gift sets (14.1%) ▲processed food gift sets (13.5%) ▲alcohol gift sets (9.7%) ▲traditional food gift sets (9.1%) ▲seafood gift sets (5.8%) ▲hygiene product gift sets (3.1%), among others. Last year, the top gift for Seol and Chuseok was 'cash/gift certificates,' followed by 'health functional foods' in second place, but this year the first and second places have switched.

Two days before the Lunar New Year holiday, the Cheongnyangni Fruit and Vegetable Market in Seoul is bustling with citizens buying ritual items. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

When asked about the purchase cost for Seol gifts, '100,000 to 290,000 KRW' was the most common response at 33.8%, followed by 'less than 100,000 KRW' at 23.4%. Compared to last Chuseok, the proportion of respondents considering 'less than 100,000 KRW' increased significantly from 13.9% to 23.4%. Conversely, the proportion of those considering 'more than 1,000,000 KRW' decreased sharply from 25.6% to 9.7%.

Regarding this, PMI explained, "Due to high inflation and economic downturn, the burden of expensive gifts has greatly influenced consumers, reflecting a trend toward practical spending," adding, "Economic uncertainty is intensifying, and this result reflects the anxious consumer sentiment accordingly."

2024 Lunar New Year Gift Rankings
[Image source: Provided by PMI]

As for the method of gift delivery, the most common response was "meeting in person to hand over cash/gift certificates" at 37.8%. This was followed by ▲offline purchase and direct delivery (36.1%) ▲online purchase and direct delivery (28.8%) ▲online purchase and shipping (23.5%) ▲offline purchase and shipping (11.7%) ▲e-coupon sending (11.1%) ▲money transfer (5.9%), in that order.

This survey was conducted online by PMI through WizPanel, with a sampling error of ±1.79 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.