Soju bottles from HiteJinro are displayed at a supermarket in Seoul on June 9. (Yonhap) After several months of decline, the consumer price indexes for soju and beer at restaurants and bars in South Korea are beginning to rise again.
According to data released Tuesday by Statistics Korea, the consumer price index for soju served at restaurants rose 0.1 percent in June from a year earlier to 115.75, marking the first increase in 10 months. The index is based on 2020 prices, with a reading above 100 indicating a rise in prices.
The index for beer served at restaurants also rose, climbing 0.5 percent in June. This marked a reversal after seven straight months of decline since December last year.
Retail alcohol prices showed a similar pattern.
The consumer price index for bottled soju, which had declined for 16 consecutive months, rose by 0.2 percent in May and 0.1 percent in June. The retail beer index surged 3.1 percent in June, the largest increase since October last year, when it rose by 4.3 percent.
The latest uptick signals the end of a rare period of prolonged price stagnation in South Korea’s alcohol market.
Statistics Korea attributed the earlier declines to sluggish consumer spending.
In an effort to attract customers, many small businesses lowered drink prices or offered alcohol for free, which in turn pushed the overall index down.
“Restaurants often offer discounts as part of promotional events that typically last a month or two,” an official from Statistics Korea said. “But this time, the discount period seems to have lasted unusually long.”
Now, with indexes starting to creep back up, industry insiders believe these temporary price-cutting measures have reached their limits.
For nearly two decades, alcohol price indexes at restaurants and bars had climbed without pause.
The index for soju rose consistently for over 19 years, from August 2005 to August 2024. Beer followed a similar trajectory, with its index increasing for 25 consecutive years, from December 1999 to November 2024.
ssh@heraldcorp.com