According to a survey by the Small Enterprises and Market Service Agency, the cost of traditional market Seol ancestral rites has decreased compared to last year. The price of 27 ritual food items from 37 traditional markets for a family of four was averaged at 287,606 KRW, a 3.6% drop from last year’s 298,392 KRW. Among the items surveyed, the prices of 16 decreased, while 11 increased.
Notably, the price of apples dropped by 27.8%, persimmons by 19.2%, and green onions by 17%. In contrast, the price of radishes nearly doubled, increasing by 98.1%, followed by minced pork at 10.3%, and rice cake for tteokguk at 9.7%.
In a similar survey of 37 nearby large marts, the cost for the same items increased to 360,986 KRW, which is 6,020 KRW (1.67%) higher than last year. Traditional markets were cheaper for 17 items compared to large marts, with notable differences in peeled balloon flower roots (66.7% cheaper), bracken (64.1% cheaper), dried pollack fillet (54.3% cheaper), jujube (50% cheaper), mung bean sprouts (40.4% cheaper), and beef for soup (38.8% cheaper).
Conversely, in large marts, tofu was 66.7% cheaper than in traditional markets, wheat flour by 25.3%, sake by 16.6%, radishes by 15.9%, and apples by 6.4%.