Pandemic Makes No Dent in Koreans' Alcohol Consumption

The frequency of Koreans' alcohol consumption dropped from an average of nine times per month a year ago to 8.5 times last year but the volume rose slightly rose from 6.7 glasses of soju to a whole bottle.

The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation on Sunday said the figures are based on a poll of 2,000 adults last July.

A bottle of soju was calculated as seven glasses, a bottle of beer as 1.5 glasses and a bottle of makgeolli or traditional Korean rice wine as 4.5 glasses.

Beer was the most common drink with 42.2 percent, followed by soju (25.4 percent), makgeolli (20 percent) and others (12.5 percent). Beer was also their favorite drink with 48.2 percent, followed by soju (20.8 percent).

Meanwhile, Korea's exports of alcoholic beverages rose 0.2 percent to US$320 million from a year earlier but imports jumped a hefty 26.6 percent to $1.4 billion as locked-down Koreans cultivated a taste for foreign tipple.