From the kimchi in our refrigerators to the instant noodles fueling late-night cravings, South Korea's food industry is a powerhouse driven by both deep-rooted culinary traditions and a relentless appetite for global innovation, as revealed by its latest production and consumption figures.
Key Takeaways
- In 2022, South Korea's rice production reached 4.04 million metric tons, marking a 2.5% decline from the previous year due to reduced cultivated area.
- South Korea produced 1.79 million metric tons of cabbage in 2022, the highest among vegetables, accounting for 22% of total vegetable output.
- Barley production in South Korea was 262,000 metric tons in 2022, primarily used for feed and food processing.
- Per capita rice consumption in South Korea was 56.4 kg in 2022, down 1.7% from prior year.
- Annual kimchi consumption per capita stood at 18.1 kg in 2022, with women consuming more.
- Instant noodle consumption reached 80.5 packs per capita in 2022, highest globally.
- South Korea's food exports hit USD 10.2 billion in 2022, up 13.5% from 2021.
- Ramen exports reached USD 800 million in 2022, to 120 countries, China top destination.
- Processed seafood exports totaled USD 2.3 billion in 2022, squid products 40%.
- Food imports to South Korea totaled USD 24.5 billion in 2022, 10% YoY increase.
- Corn imports reached 12.5 million metric tons in 2022, 95% for animal feed.
- Soybean imports were 2.3 million metric tons in 2022, from Brazil/US.
- Food industry market size in South Korea was KRW 250 trillion in 2022, 5% GDP contribution.
- Food processing employs 1.2 million workers in 2023, 5% of total employment.
- Top 10 food companies hold 40% market share in 2022, CJ CheilJedang leading.
South Korea's food industry thrives with strong production, growing exports, and unique domestic consumption trends.
Consumption Statistics
- Per capita rice consumption in South Korea was 56.4 kg in 2022, down 1.7% from prior year.
- Annual kimchi consumption per capita stood at 18.1 kg in 2022, with women consuming more.
- Instant noodle consumption reached 80.5 packs per capita in 2022, highest globally.
- Per capita meat consumption was 54.5 kg in 2022, with pork at 27 kg and beef at 15 kg.
- Dairy product consumption per capita hit 42 liters in 2022, led by milk at 30 liters.
- Processed food market size was KRW 150 trillion in 2022, with snacks at 15% share.
- Ramen sales volume reached 6.4 billion packs in 2022, up 2.3% YoY.
- Per capita vegetable consumption averaged 120 kg in 2022, cabbage leading at 15 kg.
- Alcoholic beverage consumption per capita was 8.7 liters pure alcohol in 2022, soju dominant.
- Coffee consumption per capita reached 192 cups in 2022, growing 5% annually.
- Bread and bakery consumption totaled 25 kg per capita in 2022, urban areas higher.
- Seafood consumption per capita was 56 kg in 2022, highest among OECD countries.
- Sugar consumption averaged 35 kg per capita in 2022, from beverages and confectionery.
- Functional food consumption grew to KRW 5 trillion market in 2022, 12% YoY growth.
- Per capita sugar-sweetened beverage consumption 40 liters in 2022.
- Chocolate consumption 2.5 kg per capita in 2022.
- Per capita fish consumption 55 kg in 2022.
Consumption Statistics Interpretation
The nation is a fascinating paradox of health and convenience, where the average citizen navigates a culinary landscape of ancestral kimchi and mountains of instant noodles, champion-level seafood consumption and a river of sugary drinks, all while pondering functional foods with a coffee in one hand and soju in the other.
Export Statistics
- South Korea's food exports hit USD 10.2 billion in 2022, up 13.5% from 2021.
- Ramen exports reached USD 800 million in 2022, to 120 countries, China top destination.
- Processed seafood exports totaled USD 2.3 billion in 2022, squid products 40%.
- Kimchi exports grew to USD 120 million in 2022, Japan receiving 50%.
- Instant rice exports surged to USD 150 million in 2022, US market key.
- Seaweed exports hit USD 450 million in 2022, roasted laver to Asia.
- Beef exports reached USD 180 million in 2022, to 55 countries post-BSE.
- Fruit exports, mainly strawberries, totaled USD 250 million in 2022.
- Confectionery exports were USD 300 million in 2022, rice cakes popular.
- Pet food exports from South Korea reached USD 100 million in 2022.
- Alcoholic beverages exports, soju led, USD 400 million in 2022.
- Frozen food exports grew 15% to USD 1.2 billion in 2022.
- Health functional food exports USD 500 million in 2022, to China/Vietnam.
- Noodles exports excluding ramen USD 200 million in 2022.
- Poultry meat exports USD 50 million in 2022, niche markets.
- Snack food exports USD 350 million in 2022, to US/Europe.
- Rice exports minimal at USD 20 million in 2022 due to domestic priority.
- Food machinery exports related to processing USD 1.5 billion in 2022.
- Ramen export volume 3.2 billion packs in 2022.
- Kimchi export volume 40,000 tons in 2022.
- Processed meat exports USD 250 million in 2022.
Export Statistics Interpretation
South Korea has masterfully packaged its culinary soul—from the fiery kick of kimchi and the global embrace of instant ramen to the sophisticated machinery that makes it all possible—into a formidable $10.2 billion export empire, proving that its greatest cultural ambassadors now ship in containers.
Import Statistics
- Food imports to South Korea totaled USD 24.5 billion in 2022, 10% YoY increase.
- Corn imports reached 12.5 million metric tons in 2022, 95% for animal feed.
- Soybean imports were 2.3 million metric tons in 2022, from Brazil/US.
- Wheat imports totaled 5.2 million metric tons in 2022, for noodles/bread.
- Beef imports hit 350,000 metric tons in 2022, Australia 50% share.
- Pork imports 900,000 metric tons in 2022, EU and US main suppliers.
- Dairy imports USD 2.8 billion in 2022, cheese up 20%.
- Tropical fruits imports, bananas/pineapples, 400,000 tons in 2022.
- Sugar imports 1.2 million tons in 2022, from Thailand/China.
- Frozen seafood imports USD 3.5 billion in 2022, shrimp/pollock.
- Edible oils imports, soybean oil, 1.5 million tons in 2022.
- Coffee beans imports 150,000 tons in 2022, Brazil dominant.
- Cocoa imports for chocolate 80,000 tons in 2022.
- Processed cheese imports 100,000 tons in 2022.
- Potatoes imports 300,000 tons in 2022 for processing.
- Wheat import value USD 2.1 billion in 2022.
- Barley imports 1.8 million tons in 2022.
Import Statistics Interpretation
South Korea's dinner plate is a global affair, with its appetite for beef, bread, and cheese increasingly propped up by foreign fields and seas, turning a 10% annual import surge into a $24.5 billion testament that local tastes are outgrowing local farms.
Industry Overview
- Food industry market size in South Korea was KRW 250 trillion in 2022, 5% GDP contribution.
- Food processing employs 1.2 million workers in 2023, 5% of total employment.
- Top 10 food companies hold 40% market share in 2022, CJ CheilJedang leading.
- R&D investment in food industry reached KRW 2.5 trillion in 2022, 1.5% of sales.
- Number of food manufacturers: 45,000 in 2022, SMEs 95%.
- Convenience store sales KRW 50 trillion in 2022, food 70% of revenue.
- HMR (Home Meal Replacement) market KRW 4 trillion in 2022, 15% growth.
- Plant-based food market USD 200 million in 2022, 25% YoY growth.
- Food delivery market size KRW 30 trillion in 2022, 20% annual growth.
- Organic food sales KRW 1.5 trillion in 2022, 10% market penetration.
- Food waste generation 5.5 million tons in 2022, recycling rate 85%.
- Halal food certification holders 1,200 companies in 2022, exports boosted.
- E-commerce food sales KRW 20 trillion in 2022, 25% of total retail.
- Food safety inspections: 1.5 million cases in 2022, violations 5%.
- Venture food startups: 2,500 in 2022, funded KRW 1 trillion.
- Food industry GDP contribution KRW 120 trillion in 2022.
- Food industry sales KRW 280 trillion in 2023 projection.
Industry Overview Interpretation
From towering conglomerates to nimble startups, South Korea's food industry is a deliciously complex engine of tradition and innovation, feeding both the nation's economy and its relentless appetite for convenience, health, and global reach.
Production Statistics
- In 2022, South Korea's rice production reached 4.04 million metric tons, marking a 2.5% decline from the previous year due to reduced cultivated area.
- South Korea produced 1.79 million metric tons of cabbage in 2022, the highest among vegetables, accounting for 22% of total vegetable output.
- Barley production in South Korea was 262,000 metric tons in 2022, primarily used for feed and food processing.
- Apple production totaled 512,000 metric tons in 2022, with major varieties like Fuji dominating 70% of output.
- South Korea's beef cattle inventory stood at 2.84 million heads in 2023, supporting an annual beef production of 280,000 tons.
- Pork production reached 1.49 million metric tons in 2022, with self-sufficiency rate at 55%.
- Chicken meat production was 620,000 metric tons in 2022, growing 3.1% year-over-year.
- Milk production in South Korea hit 2.45 million metric tons in 2022, led by Holstein breeds.
- Kimchi production volume exceeded 1.2 million tons annually in 2022, with household production at 40%.
- Processed food production value reached KRW 120 trillion in 2022, up 4.2% from 2021.
- Soybean production was 120,000 metric tons in 2022, mostly for tofu and soy milk.
- Garlic output totaled 320,000 metric tons in 2022, with Jeonnam province leading at 45%.
- Strawberry production achieved 190,000 metric tons in 2022-2023 season, export-oriented.
- Greenhouse vegetable production covered 65,000 hectares in 2022, yielding 2.8 million tons.
- Fisheries production was 3.6 million metric tons in 2022, with aquaculture at 70%.
- Seaweed production, mainly kelp and laver, reached 1.1 million tons wet weight in 2022.
- South Korea rice paddy area 0.85 million hectares in 2022, down 1%.
- Onion production 1.2 million tons in 2022, Gyeongbuk province 60%.
- Watermelon output 450,000 tons in 2022, protected cultivation 80%.
- Egg production 2.4 billion dozen in 2022, self-sufficiency 95%.
- Tangerine production 550,000 tons in 2022, Jeju island monopoly.
Production Statistics Interpretation
While kimchi may reign as Korea's flavorful cultural icon, the nation's dinner plate reveals a pragmatic reality of calculated self-sufficiency, where a declining rice bowl sits alongside booming cabbages and an ambitious army of greenhouse strawberries, all propped up by a formidable and growing fortress of processed food.
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