The South Korean market of instant meals jumped more than 145 percent in 2020 from four years earlier on the increased number of convenience stores and the coronavirus pandemic, data showed.

Shipments of ready-to-eat items, known as home meal replacement products in South Korea, came to 2.01 trillion won ($1.7 billion) in 2020, up a whopping 145.3 percent from 2016, according to the data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.

The 2020 tally was also up 18.7 percent from the previous year.

The ministry and the corporation attributed the instant meal market’s exponential growth to more convenience stores, the COVID-19 pandemic and the greater use of air fryers among local households. (Yonhap)