Kimchi Gaining Global Popularity, But Twice as Many Koreans Now Go All Day Without Eating It

Consumption as Cooking Ingredient Increasing Instead of Side Dish
Steady Intake Maintained Among Those Aged 65 and Older, and in Rural Households

Thanks to the Korean Wave, kimchi, a traditional Korean food, has gained global attention. However, within Korea, kimchi consumption has declined, and the ways in which people eat it have changed significantly.

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According to the Korean Society of Community Nutrition on August 9, a joint research team from Chung-Ang University, Jeju National University, and the World Institute of Kimchi analyzed data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey conducted between 2010 and 2024. The proportion of respondents who reported eating no kimchi at all in the previous 24 hours increased from 11.7% in 2010 to 22.7% in 2024, a rise of 11 percentage points.

Whereas in the past only about 1 in 10 people did not eat kimchi on a given day, now the figure exceeds 2 out of 10. By gender, the non-consumption rate for men rose from 10.2% to 20.6%, and for women from 13.1% to 24.8%.

The amount of kimchi consumed by those who do eat it has also decreased. The estimated rate of change in annual consumption, as measured by the weighted linear regression beta coefficient, recorded -1.421 for total kimchi.

By kimchi type, napa cabbage kimchi showed the largest decrease, with a beta coefficient of -0.909. The research team noted that because napa cabbage kimchi makes up a large share of total kimchi consumption, its decline had a significant impact on the overall trend.

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How people eat kimchi has also changed significantly by age group. Except for those aged 0-9, the proportion of people eating kimchi as a side dish decreased in all age groups, while the proportion using it as an ingredient in dishes like stews and braises increased.

Among young adults aged 20-39, the rate of eating kimchi as a side dish plummeted from about 82% in 2010 to about 66% in 2024. Explaining this decrease, researchers cited the rise of single-person households, expansion of home meal replacement (HMR) products and dining out, as well as a decline in the traditional meal structure of rice, soup, and side dishes, and waning kimjang (traditional kimchi-making) culture.

Marked differences were also seen by income level. The lowest-income group consumed an average of 116.9g of kimchi per day, higher than the highest-income group, which averaged 95.6g. This suggests that dependence on kimchi as both a side dish and cooking ingredient is higher among those with lower incomes.

By age and place of residence, people aged 65 and older were about 1.5 times more likely than those aged 30-64 to meet the daily recommended intake (40g). Those living in rural areas were significantly more likely than urban dwellers to meet the recommendation.

The research team concluded that "the trends observed in kimchi consumption are attributable to broad changes in meal composition and general dietary habits." They added, "Future public health strategies should shift from merely increasing kimchi consumption to a dietary habit-centered approach that considers the overall quality and balance of the diet, and kimchi should be incorporated within this context."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.