South Korea's per capita annual consumption of rice is expected to decline to record-low levels this year as more people are choosing other foods for their daily meals, a state-run think tank said Sunday.

   The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) said an average South Korean could eat 195.2 grams to 196.4 grams of rice per day in the 2011 food grams year that runs from November 2010 through October 2011.

   It said the total represents a dip of 1.6 percent to 2.2 percent compared to the year before and translates into each Korean eating between 71.2 kilograms to 71.6 kilograms of rice in the 12-month period.

   "The estimate is based on the 2.2 percent drop in rice consumption tallied from November up till February," the KREI said.

   The institute under the farm ministry said the steady decrease comes despite efforts by the government to get the general populace to consume more rice to help deal with the growing stockpile of the staple grain.

   The latest findings also showed the price for an 80-kilogram sack of locally grown rice reached 154,640 won (US$142.80) at the production market, which represents a gain of 16.4 percent compared to the year before. The rise in domestic rice prices is causing a steady increase in imported rice with 26,392 tons coming in this year, up three-fold from 9,075 tons brought in during the first five months of 2010.

Source: Yonhap News (May 22, 2011)