South Koreans' meat consumption increased more than 22 percent over the past four years, with pork remaining the most popular, government data showed Sunday.
   
The data released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety found that South Koreans consumed a total of 2.18 million tons of meat last year, or 43.7 kilograms per person.

The nation's per capita meat consumption has increased 22.3 percent over the past four years, rising from 36.8 kg in 2009 to 38.7 kg in 2010, 40.4 kg in 2011 and 43.7 kg in 2012, the ministry said.

Pork was the most popular meat last year, with its national consumption totaling 1.08 million tons, followed by chicken at 608,000 tons and beef at 488,000 tons, it said.

Notably, duck consumption posted a steep growth over the past years, with its per person consumption surging from 1.2 kg in 2006 to 3.1 kg in 2011, it noted.
   
"Increasing consumer demand for quality meat and the prosperity of family restaurants may have contributed to the rapid growth of domestic meat consumption," said a ministry official. (Yonhap News)