S. Korea’s coffee shops near 100,000, doubling in four years

[Photos : Ediya, Han Joo-hyung]

The number of coffee shops in South Korea has doubled over the last four years, amounting to nearly 100,000.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Commission on Monday, the number of coffee shops and other beverage stores was 99,000 at the end of last year, up 17.4 percent from the end of the previous year. The figure has doubled since 2018 when there were around 50,000 coffee shops in South Korea. The country’s coffee imports exceeded $1 billion last year for the first time.

The increase in coffee shops has outpaced those in other food sectors. During the four years, the number of Western restaurants increased by 80.9 percent, Japanese restaurants by 76.4 percent, snack bars by 38.5 percent, Korean-style restaurants by 33.9 percent, fried chicken joints by 31.3 percent, fast food shops by 23.1 percent and pubs by 15.3 percent. Catering restaurants reported a 116.2 percent increase in stores, yet the actual number of stores remains around 2,000.

Coffee shops now outnumber fried chicken joints in South Korea. As of the end of 2021, the number of coffee shops was reported at 84,000, higher than those of chicken joints at 76,000, and increased to 99,000 at the end of last year. As a result, coffee shops ranked second in the number of stores, following Korean-style restaurants at 362,000.

South Korea’s imports of coffee have also soared in response to increased consumption. According to Korea Customs Service trade statistics, the value of coffee imports in the first 11 months of 2022 was $1.19 billion, a 45.1 percent increase from the same period of the previous year, following the constant growth over the last four years. It marks the first time annual coffee imports have surpassed $1 billion. The figure is 16.7 times higher than the yearly imports in 2002 at $71.42 million.