Browse Data and Analysis

E-commerce is one of the largest retail channels and an essential component of the overall consumer market in Korea. Food related online sales in 2023 including food, agricultural products, and food delivery services was once again the largest category, occupying about 30 percent of the total online sales for three consecutive years.

Korea’s marketing year (MY) 2024/25 citrus production is forecast down 2.6 percent to 565,000 MT, a 10-year low, on gradually declining acreage and adverse weather conditions. Jeju Island, where nearly all Korean citrus is grown, experienced a prolonged summer heat wave lasting into mid-September, followed by excessive fall rain, which caused fruit cracking and rot.

Korea depends heavily on imports to meet the demand for dried fruits, though overall demand has seen a slight decrease over the last five years. In 2023, the United States held roughly 53% of the market share for imported dried fruit.

In 2022 (the latest official data available), South Korea's sales in the HRI food service sector reached 177.12 trillion KRW (137.1 billion USD), a 17.48 percent increase from 2021, surpassing pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, monthly per capita spending on the HRI food service rose to 179,648 KRW (139.1 USD), up 10.66 percent from 2022 and 30.65 percent from 2021.

The imported beer market in South Korea continues to show robust growth due to strong consumer demand for products of diversified taste and higher quality.

In crop year 2016/17, South Korean tangerine production is expected to continue a multi-year trend of decreasing quantity and increasing quality.

In February 2016, Korea revised the Food Sanitation Act, expanding mandatory biotech labeling to include all products with detectable biotech ingredients.

On November 16, 2016, South Korea reported an outbreak of the Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) H5N6 that has since continued to spread rapidly.

Despite high domestic cattle and beef prices, Post forecasts Korea’s cattle calf crop to see its third consecutive yearly decline in 2017.

Imports of American food and agricultural products into Korea in 2016 through September totaled $5.1 billion, down 11 percent from the previous year mainly due to reduced demand for basic...

On November 15, 2016, Statistics Korea (KOSTAT) released its revised 2016 rice production estimate to 4.197 million metric tons (MMT), slightly down from 4.2 MMT, the initial rice production...

Income growth and popularity in pet ownership, especially dogs, have increased demand for pet food in South Korea. Korea imported a total of $148 million worth of pet food in 2015, an 11% increase...