With beef, pork and chicken prices all rising ahead of year-end parties and anniversaries, the burden of dining-out costs is expected to grow. The main causes are supply shortages, including declines in the number of animals raised and slaughtered and the exhaustion of low-tariff import quotas. Given the trend in producer prices, food price increases are expected to continue for some time.
According to the livestock distribution information service Dabom on the 26th, the national average consumer price of grade 1 hanwoo (Korean beef) tenderloin as of the 25th was 16,803 won per 100 grams. That is 28.1% higher than the average of 13,113 won in October last year. Sirloin of the same grade was 11,985 won per 100 grams, up 18.9% from 10,079 won in the same month a year earlier.
Prices of imported beef, which substitutes for hanwoo, have also risen. Frozen imported ribs rose 4.1% over the same period to 4,618 won per 100 grams. Chilled chuck eye roll was 4,437 won, up 17.3% from 3,781 won in the same month last year. Domestic pork belly was 2,910 won per 100 grams, up 3.0% from a year earlier, and domestic broiler chicken was 5,897 won per kilogram, up 5.4% over the same period.
Behind the price rises is reduced supply. For hanwoo, production itself has declined as the number of cattle raised has fallen for several years. According to a Korea Rural Economic Institute report, the number of hanwoo raised peaked at 3.727 million in 2022 and then fell every year, to 3.648 million in 2023, 3.507 million in 2024 and 3.368 million in 2025.
For U.S. beef, the number of cattle slaughtered as of July fell about 7.7% from a year earlier, tightening supply. For Australian beef, the entire low-tariff quota was used up in July, and import unit prices rose afterward. For broiler chickens, highly pathogenic avian influenza (AI), which recurs every winter, is a major blow. Broiler prices this year peaked in the second quarter, then fell, and are rising again in October.
Higher raw material prices are spreading to dining-out prices. According to Korea Consumer Agency Chamgagyeok data, bibimbap is the dining-out menu item with the biggest increase this year. In Seoul, a serving of bibimbap was raised five times from January to September, to 12,000 won. Over the same period, jajangmyeon rose four times to 7,808 won, and pork belly rose three times to 21,321 won.
The rise in food prices appears unlikely to turn around easily for the time being, because increases in agricultural and livestock products are large in producer prices, which move ahead of consumer prices. According to the Bank of Korea's recently released September producer price index (preliminary), agricultural products rose 3.7% and livestock products rose 2.7% from the previous month. By item, increases were high for beef (10.4%), hairtail (9.4%), flatfish (7.5%) and pork (4.2%).