S Korea's coffee imports jump 45.1 pct in 2022
09 Jan 2023 04:59pm
Image for illustrative purposes only - FILE PIX
The value of the country's coffee imports came to US$1.19 billion in the January-November period, up 45.1 per cent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.
Yonhap reported that it marks the first time that South Korea's yearly coffee imports have exceeded US$1 billion. Last year's amount was also up 16.7 times from 20 years earlier.
In terms of volume, South Korea's coffee imports reached some 187,790 tons in the 11-month period, up from 171,990 tons a earlier year.
South Korea's coffee imports had been on a steady rise since 2018 as an increasing number of Koreans enjoy the drink.
With coffee consumption surging in Asia's fourth-largest economy, the number of coffee shops has also been rising rapidly.
The country's coffee shops and beverage stores numbered 99,000 as of the end of December, up 17.4 per cent from a year earlier and a new all-time high.
From four years earlier, the number was up 102.1 per cent, or 50,000 shops. It was far higher than the 80.9 per cent increase for Western restaurants, 76.4 per cent for Japanese restaurants, 31.3 per cent for fried chicken joints and 23.1 per cent for fast-food shops. - BERNAMA
