Korea's cafe count surpasses 100,000

Paik's Coffee, one of Korea's low-cost coffee chains, located in central Seoul (Newsis)

South Korea’s number of coffee shops exceeded 100,000 for the first time in 2022, reflecting the major trend of daily coffee consumption that has been continually growing in the country since 1999.

According to Statistics Korea on Sunday, there were 100,729 coffee shops at the end of 2022, an increase of 4,292 from the previous year. Coffee shops generated 15.5 trillion won ($11.2 billion) in combined sales while hiring some 270,000 workers nationwide.

Industry officials say the continuous, gradual increase in the number of coffee shops is attributed to the low capital barrier to enter the cafe business here.

The majority -- some 84,000 cafes -- had less than four employees. No specialized skills are required to start a cafe.

According to the Fair Trade Commission, there were 886 coffee chain brands in Korea as of 2023, compared to 669 chicken chain brands.

Since the first Starbucks opened near Ewha Womans University in Seoul in 1999, cafes began to proliferate gradually in the 2000s.

More recently, low-cost coffee chain brands such as Mega Coffee and Compose Coffee, where an Americano is priced at 1,500 won, have surged in popularity, launching some 3,000 branches combined.

By Kim Hae-yeon(hykim@heraldcorp.com)