Korean drinker consume 5.8 bottles of soju a month

By Park Yeon-kyung

Seventy-three out of 100 South Koreans are drinkers, with 83 males and 64 females each per 100, according to a survey. A drinker means that an adult drinks alcoholic beverage once or more a month.

A Korean drinker consumes 5.8 bottles of soju (359ml a bottle) and 7.2 bottles of beer (500ml a bottle) on average a month, down 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively, from last year.

These are revealed in the survey conducted online by the Korea Alcohol Research Center for 2,829 adults across the country from Nov. 23-Dec. 3.

The survey shows that it is considerably distinctive why they prefer a specific kind of alcoholic beverage more when drinking.

Drinkers sit at soju table most when they talk about their trouble (47.2 percent). In case of beer, the largest portion or 37 percent replied that they drink to relieve fatigue and stress, followed by 28 percent who said they drink while watching sports games.

Whiskey is chosen by the largest 42.6 percent as an alcoholic beverage for entertaining clients or others.

By habit of drinking, as many as 53.7 percent drink to relieve stress, up 3.8 percentage points from last year, indicating more people are suffering from hardship amid the slowdown of economic growth.

Those who drink to keep healthy came next with 30.6 percent, followed by those who love to drink with 12 percent.

About 65 percent of the respondents said that soju strikes their head first when it comes to“alcoholic beverage,”showing that soju is most widely known to Koreans. Soju is a traditional spirit.

Beer came next with 24.2 percent, while whiskey, wine and maggeoli held 3-4 percent in their awareness.

Drinkers want the alcohol content less than 19.21 degrees most in soju, down 0.03 degree from a year earlier’s 19.24, and the number of low-alcohol soju drinkers has increased 1.7 times that of a year earlier.

Meanwhile, per capita consumption of soju, beer, whiskey and wine, four of the nation’s five major kinds of alcoholic beverage, has continued to decrease since 2008.

But the consumption of maggeoli, Korean traditional fermented beverage, has increased about 30 percent this year from last year, mainly thanks to fever that President Lee Myung-bak created while serving the beverage to his foreign guests at the presidential office, according to the center.

The survey has 95 percent credibility with a error range of 1.9 percent minus and plus.

"한국인 한 달에 소주 5.8병, 맥주 7.2병 마신다"

성인 73%는 한 달에 한 차례 이상 술을 마시며 한 달 평균 소주 5.8병(병당 350㎖)과 맥주 7.2병(병당 500㎖)을 마시는 것으로 조사됐다.

21일 한국주류연구원(원장 김남문)이 전국 성인 남녀 2천829명을 조사한 결과로는 한 달에 한 차례 이상 술을 마신다는 응답자는 73%였고 성별을 나눠보면 남성은 83%, 여성은 64%로 나타났다.

1인당 한 달 평균 소비량은 소주 5.8병(50㏄ 40.5잔), 맥주 7.2병(200㏄ 17.9잔)으로, 작년보다 각각 8%, 5%씩 줄었다.

주종별로 술을 마시는 계기가 뚜렷이 달랐다.

소주는 고민 상담(47.2%)이, 맥주는 피로•스트레스 해소(37%)와 스포츠 관람(28%)이, 위스키는 접대(42.6%)가 가장 많이 꼽혔다.

음주 스타일로는 스트레스 해소형이라고 답한 사람이 53.7%로, 작년 같은 조사를 했을 때보다 3.8%포인트 늘었다.

다음으로는 건강을 챙기면서 마신다는 응답자가 30.6%, 애주가 스타일로 마신다는 응답자가 12%였다.

응답자의 65.1%가 '술' 하면 가장 먼저 소주를 떠올려 소주의 인지도가 가장 높았다.

다음으로는 24.2%가 맥주를 떠올렸고 위스키와 와인, 탁주는 각각 3∼4%대에 머물렀다.

선호하는 소주 알코올도수는 19.21도로, 작년 19.24도보다 0.03도 내려갔으며 19도 미만의 저도 소주를 원한다는 응답자도 작년보다 1.7배 늘었다.

이번 조사는 온라인으로 지난달 26일부터 이달 3일까지 이뤄졌으며 표본오차는 95% 신뢰 수준에 ±1.9%다.