”I'm afraid to buy tteokbokki and kimbap” - rising food prices in Korea

Prices of popular restaurants in Korea, such as tteokbokki, kimbap (Korean seaweed rolls), and hamburgers, are rising. This is the third time that the rate of increase in prices for these items has exceeded the average rate of increase in overall consumer prices.
According to the Korea National Statistical Office's National Statistics Portal on the 6th, food prices rose by 3.0% last month, 0.1% lower than the overall consumer price inflation rate (2.9%).
As a result, the rate of increase in food prices outside of Japan has exceeded the average rate of increase in consumer prices for 35 months since June 2021.
Of the 39 items detailed for eating out, 19 items, or about half, were above average. Tteokbokki was the highest at 5.9%, followed by bibimbap (5.
The order of popularity is as follows: △Kimbap (5.3%), △Hamburger (5.0%), △Bento (4.7%), △Kalguksu (4.2%), and △Hyangmyeon (4.2%). Prices of food served at restaurants are falling.
However, the gap between the inflation rate of food prices outside of the country and the average inflation rate of overall consumer prices narrowed to 0.1 percentage points, marking the smallest gap since the reversal in June 2021.
This is because the rate of increase in food prices outside of the country has continued to slow, dropping to 4.3% in January, 3.8% in February, 3.4% in March, and 3.0% in April.
The rate of increase in prices for processed foods has exceeded the average rate of increase in overall consumer prices for 26 months from December 2021 to January this year.
The rate reversed in February this year, and it has been below the overall average for the three months up to last month. The processed food price increase rate last month was 1.6%, 1.3 percentage points lower than the overall average. Of the 73 detailed items, 35.6%
26 items were above the overall average. Sugar had the highest score at 18.6%, followed by salt (17.4%), alcohol (10.6%), health functional foods (8.7%), fermented milk (6.7%), and milk (6.
On the other hand, prices of 26 items, including soju (-1.3%), flour (-2.2%), ramen (-5.1%), and kimchi (5.5%), decreased.
Food and dining out prices have been rising one after another recently, and dining out prices are expected to rise further.
Kimbap franchise "Baluda Kim Sensei" raised the prices of kimbap and other dishes last month,
Goobne, a Korean food franchise, raised the prices of nine menu items by 1,900 won each. McDonald's also raised the prices of 16 menu items by an average of 2.8% on the 2nd of this month.
% increase, and Pizza Hut also raised the prices of its premium menu items such as garlic butter shrimp from the same day. Lotte Wellfood will be releasing 17 flavors of Ghana chocolate and Pepero Pocky next month.
Prior to this, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs held a meeting on the 3rd, chaired by Vice Minister Han Hoon, inviting food and restaurant industry representatives to actively cooperate in stabilizing prices.
He requested.