Spending on cigarettes falling steadily

Household spending on cigarettes fell in South Korea for the eighth consecutive year in 2013, but more money was spent on alcohol, according to a Yonhap News Agency story.

A household comprising two people or more spent an average of KRW17,263 (US$16.9) per month on tobacco last year, or 0.7 percent of the average income of about KRW2.48 million, according to data compiled by Statistics Korea.

The proportion of income spent on tobacco has been declining steadily. It dropped from 0.96 percent in 2008, to 0.85 percent in 2009, to 0.81 percent in 2010, to 0.77 percent in 2011, and to 0.75 percent in 2012.

The Statistics Korea data showed also that the country’s smoking prevalence dropped from 28.8 percent in 2005 to 27 percent in 2011.