<Anchor> Here is Kwon Ae-ri, a friendly economic reporter. As COVID-19 has subsided after three years and daily life is starting to recover, there were expectations that we would be able to eat out and gather outside more freely. But I see that recently, eating out has actually decreased compared to the quarantine period. <Reporter> Consumption of eating out and drinking alcohol with people outside, consumption at restaurants and bars, has decreased noticeably since the second quarter. Statistics Korea has released a report showing that it has decreased by a whopping 13.4% compared to a year ago. If we compare the related data for June alone, the difference is even greater. It has decreased by over 15% compared to a year ago. The decrease I mentioned earlier excludes the optical illusion that occurs when the number of people eating has not increased but the cost of eating out has increased. For example, if a bowl of jajangmyeon costs 1,000 won and then goes up to 2,000 won, sales will still be 2,000 won even if the number of people eating it decreases from two to one. However, one out of two people will not be able to eat it. In order to avoid such an illusion, we reflected the changes in prices, and this is how much eating out consumption decreased. The consumer price index for July was announced the other day. Not many people were convinced that the inflation rate had dropped to the low 2% range. I think one of the reasons is the unabated price of eating out. Last month, the price of eating out went up by nearly 6% compared to a year ago. It has decreased somewhat, but this is about the same. <Anchor> Since food prices have increased, restaurant sales may increase, but as you said, if the number of people actually eating out has decreased, this may have its limits. <Reporter> The term 'lunchflation' is used a lot these days. It's a combination of lunch and inflation, and it refers to the fact that it is too burdensome to eat out. In March, Embrain, a market research firm, conducted a survey on where office workers eat lunch. When they conducted the same survey two years ago, in 2021, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, 61.5% answered that they go out even because of COVID-19. But this year, when we are supposedly back to normal, only about half of the people are like this. I wonder how people who are preparing for work are eating lunch these days while watching the news. Many people either pack a lunch or buy a lunch box at a convenience store. The most popular lunch places this year are cafeterias. Companies without cafeterias often share online about eating at a nearby cafeteria with good food. Companies that provide food at cafeterias are announcing their sales for the first and second quarters of this year, and they all increased by 20-30% compared to last year. That means they are eating out less. Employees are saving on lunch money and also saving on eating out with their families. As this trend continues, the total restaurant consumption in the second quarter of last year, which was supposed to be fixed by prices, actually increased slightly by 2% compared to a year ago. People are not eating out as much as before, but it seems to have increased because it is expensive. But this is the entire second quarter. Looking at the latest data for June alone, even without adjusting for inflation, consumption in restaurants and bars has decreased slightly compared to a year ago. It can be said that because the cost of eating out has risen so much, eating out consumption has been reduced to the point where it can no longer be covered up by expensive items. (Anchor) This is true for eating out as well, but this sluggish consumption is also appearing in the travel industry and travel prices. (Reporter) The place where prices rose the least in July was Jeju Island. It only rose by 1.2% compared to a year ago. Jeju is a representative tourist destination in Korea, and prices in these places usually rise more than other places during the vacation season. This year, it was the opposite. The prices of vacation spots rose so much during the COVID-19 period when overseas travel was blocked that they did not rise much this year. Compared to last year, car rental costs nationwide have fallen by more than 17%. Domestic group travel costs have also fallen by 9.3%. Rather than saying it has become cheaper, it is at a level where it went up too much last year and has calmed down somewhat. As the perception of being expensive grows and vacationers who had to travel domestically disperse overseas, it has become impossible to maintain the prices that soared during the COVID-19 period when domestic travel demand exploded. However, it is also frustrating for producers, restaurant owners, and travel service providers. The cost of providing the service itself has increased, so many places have difficulty maintaining the same prices as before. However, if it is too expensive and actual use decreases, and consumption continues to slump in many places, it is necessary to consider that it could ultimately be hit even harder. ☞More information https://news.sbs.co.kr/y/?id=N1007295127 ☞[Friendly Economy] Article Collection https://news.sbs.co.kr/y/t/?id=100000... #SBSNews #Prices #DiningOut ▶Subscribe to SBS News Channel: https://n.sbs.co.kr/youtube ♨Discuss hot issues together (Subscribe to Soup): https://premium.sbs.co.kr ▶SBS News Live: https://n.sbs.co.kr/youtubeLive, https://n.sbs.co.kr/live ▶Report SBS News Homepage: https://n.sbs.co.kr/inform Application: Install the 'SBS News' app and report - https://n.sbs.co.kr/App KakaoTalk: Become friends with 'SBS News' and chat - https://pf.kakao.com/_ewsdq/chat Facebook: Send a message to 'SBS News' - / sbs8news Email: [email protected] Text # and press 6000 Phone: 02-2113-6000 Homepage: https://news.sbs.co.kr/ Facebook: / sbs8news Twitter: / sbs8news KakaoTalk: https://pf.kakao.com/_ewsdq Instagram: / sbsnews