(Photo: Yonhap News)
South Korean household boosted spending on alcohol and cigarettes for a second straight quarter as the coronavirus pandemic forced more people to stay home.
Government data Wednesday showed households spent an average of 42,980 won on liquor and tobacco during the July-September period, up 10.7 percent from a year earlier.
It marks the largest quarterly amount since Statistics Korea began tracking related data in 2003.
The third-quarter growth rate was also the highest since the 22.2 percent rise recorded in the first quarter of 2016, in the wake of a cigarette price hike.
Household spending on alcohol and tobacco products declined 4.2 percent on-year in the first quarter, but swung to a 9.5 percent gain in the second quarter amid growing fallout from the spread of COVID-19.
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