SEOUL, January 30 (AJP) - Despite a population less than half the size of Japan's, South Korea now has more Starbucks locations than its neighbor for the first time.
According to Starbucks' global website on Thursday, South Korea had 2,009 Starbucks stores as of the end of last year, surpassing Japan by 18 locations. Although South Korea has a population of 52 million compared to Japan’s 125 million, it now ranks third globally in Starbucks store count, behind only the United States and China.
Of Starbucks' 36,121 stores worldwide, the U.S. accounts for 17,049 locations, or 47 percent, while China follows with 7,685, or 21 percent. Considering the U.S. population of over 330 million and China’s 1.4 billion, South Korea now has more Starbucks stores per capita than both the U.S. and China.
In 2023, Japan had 1,901 Starbucks stores, just eight more than South Korea. However, Japan added 90 new locations over the past year, while South Korea expanded by 116.
Japan was Starbucks’ first market outside North America, with its inaugural store opening in Tokyo’s Ginza district in 1996. South Korea followed three years later, with its first store near Ewha Womans University in Seoul. In the 25 years since, Starbucks has grown rapidly in the country, surpassing 2,000 stores after reaching the 1,000-store milestone in 2016.
The expansion has been particularly aggressive in recent years. In 2020, South Korea had 1,508 locations—121 fewer than Japan—but the gap quickly narrowed as Starbucks Korea added 500 more stores in just four years, averaging nearly one new store every three days.
Since 2013, Starbucks Korea has added at least 100 stores annually. Seoul now boasts over 600 Starbucks locations, making up more than 30 percent of the country’s total.
Starbucks' rise in South Korea reflects the broader boom in the country's coffee industry. The number of coffee shops nationwide surpassed 100,000 in 2022, nearly doubling compared to 2016. According to market research firm Euromonitor, South Koreans consumed an estimated 405 cups of coffee per person in 2023—2.7 times the global average of 152 cups per person.
The country’s growing coffee demand is also evident in its import figures. Data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation shows that South Korea imported $1.38 billion worth of coffee beans, concentrates, and instant coffee last year, an 11 percent increase from 2022.
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