The Most Expensive Country In The World For Bread: South Korea

 

A Korean bakery

“I don’t know why bread is so pricey in Korea” “Bread seems like a fancy food.” These are what my foreign friends said to me. It’s actually true that the cost of bread is really expensive in South Korea compared to other countries. According to Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), generally Koreans have to pay $15.99 for a 1kg loaf of bread in Seoul. That’s a lot higher than New York where it has been second-ranked with $8.33. This is about twice as much. Usually, you can have some nice meal in a Korean restaurant for $6. Bakery in Korea, however, it has already exceeded $10 if you choose 3-4 breads. Then, what’s the reason? Why is the bread super pricey in South Korea?

Among Koreans there are a lot of opinions about cost of bread. So first, Koreans rely on imported ingredients such as sugar, flour and butter which are main ingredients of bread. That means it can’t help that the price of bread is too high. Some Korean understand the reason of high price, but they still think it’s not reasonable enough and it’s way too expensive. Another reason is the wrong distribution structure. Leaving these reasons behind, I think there is a big reason for being expensive. It's because bread is sold even if it’s too pricey in Korea. People pay the price, so the bread is being sold steadily and the price keeps rising more and more. Probably this is the realistic reason of the pricey bread price.