Koreans drink less hard liquor, more soft alcohol: data

The amount of alcohol consumed by South Koreans is decreasing, with fruit-flavored soft alcohol gaining in popularity, government data showed Friday.

According to the report released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, which surveyed 2,000 Koreans aged 15 or over, Koreans on average drank 4.9 cups of beer (about two pints) and 6.1 shots of soju, a popular grain-based liquor, at a time in the first half of this year.

These findings are a slight decrease compared to 2013 when the average beer intake was 5.6 cups and 6.4 shots of soju per person.

The intake of fruit-based drinks with low alcohol content rose from 2.2 shots per person to 6 shots on the back of growing popularity of lighter alcoholic drinks.

Since early last year, leading alcohol manufacturers such as Lotte Chilsung and its rival Muhak have rolled out a series of fruity soju products containing 14 percent alcohol, which is lower than the usual 20 percent.

The proportion of heavy drinkers also fell, which the ministry saw as an indicator of the social move towards a healthy drinking culture.

Of the surveyed, 58.3 percent showed a pattern of high-risk alcohol consumption by downing more than 8.8 shots of soju for men and 5.9 shots for women, a drop from 82.5 percent in 2013.

While 55.8 percent of the surveyed said that they drank “soju bombs,” soju mixed with beer, in 2013 the figure shrank to 45.7 percent this year.

The report also showed that men drink 7.3 shots of soju and 5.6 cups of beer at a time, while women consume 4.2 shots of soju and 4.5 cups of beer.

The World Health Organization guidelines state that drinking 5.8 shots of soju and 5.6 cups of beer for men is within the level of low-risk alcohol consumption. For women, drinking no more than 2.9 shots of soju and 2.8 cups of beer is identified as low risk.

Those in their 20s were more prone to heavy drinking, with 65.2 percent falling under a category of high-risk alcohol consumption. Half of them said that they had soju bombs.

In South Korea, drinking is considered crucial part of social life to bond with friends and colleagues. It is notoriously the biggest consumer of hard liquor in the world, downing 13.7 shots of liquor per week on average, according to data released by Euromonitor in 2014.

An excessive alcohol consumption has led to social problems including violence, driving under the influence and health risks, with the Ministry of Health and Welfare projecting that alcohol-related social costs amount to more than 16.3 trillion won a year.

According to 2014 government data, 33.9 percent of three serious crimes -- murder, rape and violence -- took place when suspects were heavily intoxicated.

“Koreans are advised to drink no more than the recommended guidelines by the WHO and should be careful about drinks with lower alcohol content,” said an official from the ministry. “Especially, fruit-based soju products can be dangerous as they contain 16 to 32 percent of the recommended daily sugar intake for Koreans.”

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)