South Koreans are reportedly more satisfied with their leisure activities than they have been in over a decade. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) – South Koreans are reportedly more satisfied with their leisure activities than they have been in over a decade, according to a recent survey.
A survey showed that 60.7% of respondents are generally satisfied with their leisure activities, marking the highest rate since 2012 and a 4.1 percentage point increase from last year.
This is the results of the ’2023 National Leisure Activity Survey’ on December 26, conducted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, along with the Korea Culture and Tourism Institute.
The satisfaction rate, which stood at 58.2% in 2012, had dropped to 47.5% by 2018 but climbed back up to 56.6% last year.
The survey, conducted from August 1, 2022, to July 31, 2023, involved 10,040 citizens aged 15 and above across the nation.
The average monthly leisure spending of citizens increased by 25,000 won from the previous year, reaching 201,000 won. The amount deemed appropriate for leisure spending also rose by 32,000 won to 271,000 won.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the average number of leisure activities per person decreased, but it increased by one activity to 16.1 this year compared to 15.1 last year.
The proportion of leisure activities with family rose from 33.5% to 34%, and activities with friends increased from 12.4% to 13.2%, largely attributed to the lifting of social distancing measures in April last year.
The most common leisure activity was rest, with 89.4% of respondents participating (multiple responses allowed), though this was a 1.4 percentage point decrease from the previous year. On the other hand, sports participation increased by 4.9 percentage points to 30.4%, and tourism activities rose by 1.2 percentage points to 18.5%.
Additionally, direct attendance at cultural and arts events, as per a separate National Cultural Arts Activity Survey, increased by 0.5 percentage points to 58.6%. The average number of event attendances (among attendees) was 4.3 times, similar to the pre-pandemic level in 2020 and an increase of 0.6 times from last year.
The Annual Leave Survey showed a slight increase in annual leave utilization to 76.2%, up 0.1 percentage points from the previous year. While the proportion of leave taken for rest purposes decreased slightly from 30.9% to 29.6%, the proportion used for travel increased from 29.4% to 31.1%.
However, the percentage of workers taking long vacations of five days or more decreased by 2.8 percentage points to 6.7%.
Yu Byung-chae, Director of Cultural and Arts Policy at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, “This survey confirms that the quality and quantity of the nation’s cultural and leisure activities, which were impacted by COVID-19, are recovering. We will continue to implement policies to expand cultural access and ensure this recovery trend continues into next year.”
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
