Foreign-made beer sales surged 27.9 percent on-year in the January-March period, compared with a merely 1.7 percent sales growth for locally-made beer, E-Mart said.
Meanwhile, sales of soju, the country's well-known alcoholic beverage, and wine grew 7.1 percent and 4.3 percent on-year, respectively, while foreign-brand liquors saw their sales tumble 7.9 percent, it said.
According to statistics compiled by the Korea Customs Service, the amount of imported beer jumped 29.5 percent to 18,756 tons in the first two months from the same period of last year.
"Amid the protracted economic sluggishness, growth in sales of wine and foreign-brand liquors has slowed, while imported beer continue to be popular among customers. Such a trend will continue since there is a wide variety of foreign-made beer introduced in the country," an E-Mart employee said.
During the period between July 1 and Nov. 28 last year, imported beer sales at E-Mart exceeded sales of soju for the first time in its history, according to the retailer.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
