South Korea's production of makgeolli rice wine fell for the first time in 32 months in February amid slowing demand from strong consumption over past few years, data showed Monday.

Makgeolli production came to 24,395 kiloliters in February, down 6.8 percent from the same month a year earlier, according to the data provided by Statistics Korea. That marked the first on-year contraction since June 2008.

Shipments for domestic consumption also fell for the first time since June 2008. A total of 22,753 kiloliters of makgeolli were shipped for consumption here in the cited month, down 8.1 percent from a year earlier, the data showed.

Those declines were attributed to slowing demand relative to the previous years' enthusiasm for the traditional Korean rice wine at home and other countries. Some blamed the recent fall in makgeolli production on competition-driven market saturation.

The latest figure contrasted with the past few years when makgeolli output had increased rapidly on the back of its growing popularity.

The data showed that production amounted to 21,069 kiloliters in September 2009 and it jumped to 30,527 kiloliters in March 2010 and to 33,906 kiloliters in June last year, respectively.

Slowing output and demand last month led to relatively brisk market situations for other alcoholic beverages, the data showed.

Output of beer jumped 7 percent in February from a year earlier to 132,395 kiloliters, extending its on-year growth streak to the fifth month.

Soju, a Korean distilled beverage made from rice and other starches, saw its output inch down 0.6 percent in February but its production improved compared with a protracted slump in the previous months, according to the data.

(Yonhap News)