South Korea: Domestic shipments of beer remained weak last year

Domestic shipments of beer and traditional distilled liquor soju in South Korea remained weak last year, a government report showed Tuesday, January 31. Meanwhile domestic shipments of higher-grade whiskey increased, Asia Pulse News communicated on January 31.

Domestic shipments of beer dropped 4.1 per cent from a year earlier to 16.6 million hl.

"The recovery in domestic consumption was limited to the upper class that could afford expensive drinks," an industry source said. "In addition, the widespread tendency to refrain from drinking helped lower consumption of beer and soju."

Domestic shipments of whiskey amounted to 10,912 kilolitres last year, up 6.8 per cent from a year earlier, according to the report by the National Statistical Office (NSO). The increase ended a four-year slump after the shipments slipped 13.7 per cent in 2004, 28 per cent in 2003 and 2.5 per cent in 2002, the report said.

In contrast, domestic shipments of the nation's most popular alcohol soju came to 1.09 million kilolitres, up a mere 0.6 per cent, the report said.

Domestic shipments of "cheongju," clear strained rice wine, came to 27,540 kilolitres, up 1.9 per cent from a year earlier, while those of wine dropped 4.8 per cent to 5,810 kilolitres, the report said.

31 January, 2006