Government data showed Sunday that Korea's kimchi imports rose significantly in the first quarter, marking an on-year increase of 16.7 percent to log the highest figure by quarter.
According to the data provided by the Korea Customs Service, $47.56 million worth of kimchi was imported from January to March, up from $40.75 million in the same period in 2024. The on-year increase of imported kimchi by weight was 10.1 percent.
Kimchi, widely beloved and consumed nationwide, is among the most recognizable Korean foods internationally. While Korea exports large quantities of kimchi to other countries, an increasing amount of kimchi has been imported to account for local consumption.
Last year, Korea imported $189.98 million worth of kimchi, marking the highest figure ever and up 16.1 percent from $163.58 million the year before. The quantity of imported kimchi surpassed 300,000 metric tons for the first time at 311,570 tons, up from 286,545 tons in the previous year.
Korea's kimchi exports for 2024 also marked an all-time high of $163.57 million, which was still significantly smaller than the imports.
While kimchi imports have trended upwards, Statistics Korea's data indicates that some of the increase in imports can be attributed to the price hike of kimchi and cabbage, the main ingredient in kimchi.
Statistics Korea's data showed that the price of cabbage in April was 15.6 percent higher than the same month in 2024, while the price of kimchi rose by 20.7 percent in April compared to a year before.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
