Koreans consume an average of two bowls of rice a day and eat foods other than rice for least one of their three daily meals, a recent survey showed. The poll, conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) from November 1999 to October last year, also found that Koreans' rice consumption has been on the decrease since 1980. According to the survey, the annual per capita rice consumption stood at 93.6kg in 1999 but fell by 3.4 percent to 93.3kg last year.
NSO officials said that rice consumption is decreasing as the Korean diet becomes increasingly simple and diverse.
The poll showed that the per capita consumption of wheat increased from 29.4kg in 1980 to 35.5kg in 1999 and those of meat and fruit sharply grew from 11.3kg and 22.3kg to 30.5kg and 55.7kg, respectively, during the same period.
Individuals living in farming households were found to have consumed 139.9kg of rice last year while those in nonfarming households ate only 89.2kg of rice, indicating that rice consumption in urban households is falling.
Per capita consumption of grains including rice came to 106.5kg last year, down 2.2 percent or 2.4kg from 108.9kg in 1999. On the other hand, consumption of cereals increased by 14.3 percent, beans by 9.7 percent and potatoes and sweet potatoes by 15.6 percent year on year.