Cost of Preparing a Chuseok Ancestral-Rites Table: 196,000 Won... Why Is It Down 1.5% from Last Year?

[Financial News] The average cost of preparing a Chuseok ancestral-rites table this year was 196,630 won, down 1.5% from the same period last year, one week before Chuseok.
The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT) announced on the 19th the results of its survey of prices for key Chuseok food items, conducted one week before the 2026 holiday. The survey covered 24 items in eight categories, including vegetables, fruit and livestock products, at 17 traditional markets and 36 large retailers across 22 regions nationwide. The calculation was based on the amount needed to prepare a table for a four-person family.
By category, the cost of livestock products for the ancestral-rites table rose 2.5% from last year. However, prices of fruit, seafood and forest products fell by 7.2%, 4.9% and 8.4%, respectively, as supplies increased ahead of Chuseok.
Among livestock products, 900g of beef round cost 37,053 won, up 3.2% from a year earlier. The price of 400g of brisket rose 0.4% to 21,976 won. Three hundred grams of pork foreleg cost 5,028 won, a 3.4% increase. A pack of 10 eggs cost 2,370 won, up 11.3%.
Rice, a grain product, cost 3,070 won per kilogram, down 9.3% from last year. Among vegetables, prices of cabbage and spinach fell year on year. Three hundred grams of cabbage cost 882 won, down 3.5%, while spinach cost 7,080 won, down 2.1%. Prices of one radish and one Korean zucchini rose 8.0% and 18.6%, respectively, to 2,134 won and 2,144 won.
Among fruits, five apples cost 11,468 won, down 13.4% from a year earlier. Three pears, however, cost 9,274 won, up 1.8%.
Seafood prices were 10,493 won for 800g of frozen pollock, 4,926 won for three yellow croakers and 6,061 won for one dried pollock. Prices of frozen pollock and yellow croakers fell 0.8% and 23.2%, respectively, from a year earlier, while the price of dried pollock rose 8.5%.
The price of 400g of bracken, a forest product, rose 4.9% from a year earlier to 13,234 won. Prices of jujubes (200g), chestnuts (1kg) and dried persimmons (nine pieces) fell 10.7%, 9.8% and 23.8%, respectively, to 2,883 won, 7,351 won and 7,368 won.
Prices of tofu (two blocks), cheongju (700mL) and songpyeon (1kg) rose 10.4%, 2.0% and 3.3% year on year to 5,875 won, 4,933 won and 13,070 won, respectively. By contrast, prices of flour (1kg), sikhye (1,500mL) and yakgwa (350g) fell 1.2%, 3.5% and 3.2%.
The cost of preparing an ancestral-rites table at large retailers was 7.6% lower than last year. The aT attributed the decline to extensive government discount support, half-price table-setting discounts from the National Agricultural Cooperative Federation (NACF) and retailers' own discount programs.
The aT forecast that costs could continue to decline immediately before Chuseok, when purchases of key holiday food items are expected to peak. Increased supplies of newly harvested produce and large retailers' full-scale Chuseok discount events are expected to contribute to the decline.
Agricultural, livestock and forest products can be purchased at discounts of up to 40% through September 30. An event is also running through the 20th, offering consumers who purchase domestically produced agricultural, livestock and aquatic products at traditional markets a refund of up to 30% of the purchase amount in Onnuri Gift Certificates.
[email protected] Jang Min-kwon Reporter