South Koreans, particularly those living in the capital region, are spending less on rice, marking an over 15 percent drop in expenses for rice consumption last year, a government report said Monday.

Throughout the year, households in the capital region on average spent around 126,000 won ($110) on plain rice, 19,000 won on brown rice and 11,000 won on glutinous rice, totaling some 165,000 won. 


It was down 15.6 percent from 2014, according to the report by the Gyeonggido Agricultural Research & Extension Services.

The decline in spending is largely due to the continued decrease in rice consumption and a drop in the prices of rice, the organization said.

The price of rice per kilogram was 3,204 won last year, 4.9 percent lower than the 3,370 won of 2014. The number of purchases also dropped from 6.4 times in 2010 to 5.6 times last year.

Rice oversupply is the main reason for the price decrease, as the country’s rice production reached a six-year high of 4.33 million tons in 2015 on a bumper harvest, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

“More efforts need to be put in to develop rice that suits the diversified tastes of consumers,” the research department of the institute said.

Meanwhile, the country’s stock of rice has continued to increase, with the amount of rice Korea is obligated to import each year -- in return for postponing the opening of the rice market upon negotiations with the World Trade Organization -- reaching 409,000 tons as of 2014. The amount has surged by eight times over the past 20 years.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the country’s total stock of rice reached 1.75 million tons as of June, which is twice the optimal level of 800,000 tons recommended by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization.

To better manage the oversupply of rice, the government has been taking measures to foster rice consumption such as by running campaigns that emphasize the healthy aspects of rice, holding special sales, supporting research and development of food and beverages that use rice.

Local governments are seeking to handle the oversupply by bolstering exports.

Icheon in Gyeonggi Province, for instance, famous for producing high-quality rice, exported some 100 ton of Icheon Rice to China in May. Icheon Brand Management, which manages rice harvested in the area, plans to export a total of 400 tons by the end of this year. 

By Kim Bo-gyung (lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)