Consumption of nondurable goods, such as food ingredients and expendable supplies, declined last year by the biggest margin since the 1997 Asian financial crisis amid protracted inflation and high interest rates.

According to the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) on Sunday, the retail sales index last year stood at 104, down one-point-four percent from the previous year. The on-year decline is the largest since the three-point-two percent drop in 2003.

The index fell for the second straight year after jumping five-point-eight percent in 2021, and it is the first-ever two-year consecutive decline since related data began to be compiled in 1995.

Spending on nondurable goods fell one-point-eight percent, the largest drop since eight-point-eight percent in 1998. Consumption of food ingredients declined by two-point-six percent, and medical supplies dropped by one-point-five percent.

Spending on semi-durables dropped two-point-six percent by item, clothing fell two-point-one percent, and shoes and bags fell by five-point-six percent.

A rise in production in the service sector, which indirectly shows service consumption, also slowed last year, from five and six-point-seven percent in 2021 and 2022, respectively, to two-point-nine percent in 2023.