The number of Starbucks locations in South Korea has exceeded 2,000, surpassing the number of locations in Japan.
According to the Starbucks global website on the 30th, the number of stores in South Korea was counted at 2,009 as of the end of last year. This is a difference of 18 from Japan, making it the third highest number of stores in the world, following the United States and China.
There are a total of 36,121 Starbucks locations worldwide. Of these, the United States has 17,049 stores, accounting for 47%, and China has 7,685 stores, making up 21%.
South Korea has the highest number of Starbucks locations per capita.
Japan was the first country outside North America where Starbucks entered, with its first store opening in Ginza, Tokyo, in 1996.
South Korea opened its first store three years later, in 1999, in front of Ewha Womans University. There are more than 600 locations in the Seoul area, which accounts for over 30% of all Starbucks stores in the country. In particular, the area of Teheran-ro in Gangnam, which is densely populated with office buildings, has nearly 100 stores.
The industry estimates that the revenue of SCK Company, which operates Starbucks in the country, surpassed 3 trillion won for the first time last year.
The growth of Starbucks has been accompanied by the growth of the local coffee market. The number of coffee shops in South Korea exceeded 100,000 in 2022. Euromonitor estimates that South Korea's per capita annual coffee consumption is projected to reach 405 cups in 2023, which is 2.7 times the global per capita annual coffee consumption of 152 cups.