Per-capita annual chicken consumption in Korea was a just 1.4 kilograms in 1970, but rose to 7.8 kilograms in 2003 and 17.6 kilograms so far this year.
The survey also shows that Koreans eat the most chicken during the summer, with over 100 million chickens slaughtered in July alone.
The spike in consumption is mainly due to three "dog days" in the traditional Korean calendar – Chobok, Jungbok and Malbok – which are considered to be the hottest days of the year. Collectively called Sambok, these days fall between June and July in the lunar calendar and they are each about 10 days apart. This year they fall on July 15, July 25 and Aug. 14.
Korea has a tradition of eating samgyetang, or chicken soup with ginseng to combat the sweltering heat as the dish is said to invigorate the appetite of people who have grown weary from the summer heat. One in every six chickens slaughtered annually is used for making the soup.
Koreans' per-capita chicken consumption is higher than the global average of 14.6 kilograms, and also exceeds that of neighboring countries Japan and China, which consume 13.4 kilograms and 14.1 kilograms, respectively.
