New figures released by Statistics Korea show household expenditure on cigarettes and alcohol hit a record high this July-September, the largest figure since 2003 when the South Korean government started compiling this data.
The data revealed that monthly spending on tobacco and liquor by local households of two or more people rose by 10.7% year-on-year to an average KRW42,980 (US$38.70), in the three-month period. Separately, household spending on alcohol was an average KRW19,651 while spending on tobacco was KRW23,329, both still a record high. The household expenditure data does not include alcohol and tobacco purchases at restaurants.
Household spending had dropped 4.2% year-on-year in Q1 2020, but quickly gained 9.5% in the following three-month period.
This rapid increase is attributed to the lockdown situation due to the coronavirus pandemic, where more people were forced to stay at home. Travel restrictions due to the pandemic are also believed to have contributed to this, as people who could no longer travel and purchase their tobacco and alcohol at duty-free shops turned to buying them from local stores.