Unlike the declining consumption of hard liquors, fruit-flavored soft alcohol is gaining popularity apparently due to increased social awareness of healthy drinking, a government report showed last week.

Social gatherings over drinking beer and soju have long been considered part of Korean culture, but that is gradually fading as a growing number of Koreans tend to prefer soft alcohol in consideration of health, according to the report.

This year, Koreans aged 15 or older drank 4.9 glasses of beer and 6.1 shots of soju on average each session they drank, compared to 5.6 glasses and 6.4 shots, respectively, in 2013, according to a survey conducted by the Korea Food and Drug Administration of 2,000 Korea.

On the other hand, the intake of fruit-based drinks with low alcohol volume jumped to 6 shots in 2016 from 2.2 shots three years ago.