"Chuseok Ritual Table Cost at 313,000 Won This Year... Beef and Wild Vegetables on the Rise"

Price Monitoring Center of the Korea Consumer Agency Council Releases Survey on Ritual Offering Costs
Average cost for a four-person household: 313,089 won, down 2.3% from last year
First decrease recorded in the past five years
Despite stabilized fruit and seafood prices, effect on easing inflation burden remains limited

This year, the estimated cost of preparing the traditional Chuseok ritual table is about 310,000 won, marking the first decrease in the past five years. This decline is mainly due to the stabilization of fruit and seafood prices. However, the effect of easing the holiday inflation burden is expected to be limited, as prices for core ritual items such as meat and wild vegetables continue to rise.

Consumers are browsing sacrificial items such as apples and pears at Gyeongdong Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

According to the Price Monitoring Center of the Korea Consumer Agency Council, the average cost for purchasing ritual offerings for Chuseok for a four-person household this year is 313,089 won, a 2.3% decrease compared to last year’s Chuseok. This is the first time in the past five years surveyed by the council that the cost of the ritual table has declined year-over-year. The survey was conducted on September 3–4, about two weeks before Chuseok, across 90 stores in Seoul's 25 districts, including department stores, large-scale supermarkets, Super Supermarkets (SSMs), general supermarkets, and traditional markets.

Of the 23 items that could be compared to the previous year, the prices of 14 items fell compared to last year’s Chuseok. By category, fruit (-7.3%), seafood (-6.8%), other food (-3.5%), processed food (-2.5%), and vegetables & forest products (-2.3%) all showed year-over-year declines. Livestock products saw a slight increase of 0.8%, remaining at a similar level to last year.

Looking at the details, the prices of key fruits such as newly harvested pears (-12.9%) and apples (-8.7%) dropped, while among seafood, yellow croaker saw a significant price drop (-24.5%), driving the overall decline. The price of ground pork also fell by 13.7%. The government’s discount support for agricultural, livestock, and fisheries products during the survey period appears to have influenced these results.

Consumers are browsing ritual supplies at Gyeongdong Market in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jo Yongjun

In contrast, prices for wild vegetables such as boiled bracken (up 12.0%) and peeled bellflower root (up 5.5%) increased. Dried pollock, another essential Chuseok item, also rose by 7.3%. Beef for skewers (up 4.1%), eggs (up 3.9%), and pollack fillet (up 3.0%) were also more expensive than a year ago.

By type of retail channel, livestock and vegetable & forest product prices were 30.7% and 26.0% cheaper respectively at traditional markets compared to large-scale supermarkets. For example, domestic beef (for skewers, 600g) cost an average of 54,948 won at large supermarkets, but only 33,751 won at traditional markets—a difference of about 38.6%. Beef for soup was 36.0% cheaper at traditional markets. Boiled bracken (domestic, 400g) cost an average of 14,688 won at large supermarkets, compared to 11,100 won at traditional markets. Peeled bellflower root was also about 22.2% cheaper at traditional markets. Items where large supermarkets offered lower prices than traditional markets included seasonal fruit such as eggs (-28.7%), new apples (-23.5%), new pears (-19.2%), and dried persimmons (-16.0%).

The Price Monitoring Center at the Korea Consumer Agency Council stated, “We will conduct additional monitoring of ritual offerings a week before Chuseok to provide price information and will continue to closely track price trends for key items with high volatility.”

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