<Anchor> We are
with reporter Kwon Ae-ri on Wednesday.
Reporter Kwon, Research on our daily lives changed by Corona 19 is being conducted one after another. Is there a difference in what consumption is increasing and what is decreasing by country?
<Reporter>
Yes.
There is such a point.
Then, what are the features that stand out especially in the consumption of people in our country. Even though the number of days to go outside to meet people and hold meetings has decreased, Koreans' liking of alcohol has not changed.
Nielsen, a global data company, compared and analyzed how consumption in Asia has changed since the coronavirus, until the end of August.
Then, the consumption that continued to increase in Korea was alcohol.
Compared to last year, alcohol consumption in Asia as a whole has decreased by 4%. Because I went out and met less people, I drank less.
But Koreans didn't give up drinking even if they couldn't meet people.
I kept drinking alone at home.
By the way, you usually think that home alcohol is about one drink. I think I'll drink less than when I hang out with people outside, but I think I drank quite a bit at home.
Alcohol consumption in Korea increased by 4.6% from last year.
I was under a lot of stress, so I bought 0.7% more cigarettes.
Again, this is in contrast to the 6% decline in tobacco consumption on average in Asia.
<anchor>
I don't think it's a good story, but wouldn't it have any effect that we had little restrictions on activities because we were well quarantined?
<Reporter>
Yes.
There seems to be such a thing.
However, it is a bit difficult to say that it was the only cause.
It was slightly different depending on the time and situation, but Asian countries were not blocked from economic activity as much as in the West. From the second quarter, China, which showed a clear recovery, Taiwan, which is evaluated as the world's best responding to the corona, is similar to ours. There are times when social distancing has been strengthened, but Singapore, which has adjusted its strengths and weaknesses, has increased overall offline consumption more than ours until August this year.
However, Korea was particularly strong in alcohol and cigarettes.
However, it should be taken into account that this survey is not simply comparable to the regions where online liquor order is possible, as it only counts liquor and cigarettes purchased at restaurants or convenience stores.
Delivery of alcohol is illegal in Korea, and there is a point that only when delivering with food is allowed at a level where the price of alcohol does not exceed the price of the food.
By the way, the consumption of ordinary beverages without alcohol has declined, like in other Asian countries.
Decreased by 2%.
This is a number that reflects the decline in activity considerably.
It seems that I go outside a little and then go to a coffee shop to buy drinks and walk around, but it seems that I didn't have to worry about having to wear a mask in the middle of the night and go out to the convenience store to buy 4 cans of beer.
<Anchor>
4 cans of beer seem to be based on reporter Kwon. What else are there more or less bitter items other than alcohol, cigarettes, and beverages?
<Reporter> There is an
interesting product line.
It is common in all countries that various cleaning agents and hygiene products have increased since the coronavirus.
However, there are items that have significantly reduced consumption even in this area.
It is a laundry detergent.
Sales declined 3% across Asia.
There was less work to work from home, to study remotely, to keep washing and dressing up.
And overall, convenience food has increased everywhere, and convenience food is also convenient, but since I was at home for a long time, I started cooking dishes that even people who were busy didn't.
It means that I only bought the ingredients to cook myself.
The consumption of fresh food in Korea has increased by over 8%.
I also bought a lot of seasoning.
Along with the consumption of traditional sauces such as soy sauce and gochujang, consumption of spices and seasonings also increased a lot.
Among packaged foods, items with a healthy image while being able to easily serve side dishes seem to have gained popularity.
Even though I ate a lot of rice at home, consumption of canned ham decreased by 11%.
This is an unexpected result.
Since you can't go outside the house and your activity is reduced, let's eat healthy even if it's good to eat ham, but buy fresh meat, and even if you buy processed meat, buy individually packaged ham that has a slightly better image in terms of health. It seems to have been there.
Individually packaged ham consumption has increased.
Also, the sales of seaweed and stone seaweed, which can be easily released at any time and are good for the body, increased by 28% compared to last year.
There were a lot of people like this, who do home-brew over a plate of seaweed in the most comfortable way at home, but it seems to have had some influence.