Korea's coffee market estimated at 3.7 tln won in 2024: Data

The size of Korea's coffee market was estimated at 3.7 trillion won ($2.61 billion) in 2024, a study by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs showed Tuesday, with demand shifting from coffee mix to roasted beans.

According to the Agriculture Ministry, the market for coffee products in Korea rose 5.2 percent on average over the past six years from 2.75 trillion won in 2018.

The report showed sales of roasted coffee beans shot up 15.8 percent annually from 2018 to 2024 to hit 1.3 trillion won, while those of processed coffee products, including three-in-one coffee mixes, fell 0.5 percent on average over the period to 871.1 billion won.

The number of cafes, meanwhile, came to 106,452 in 2023, up 5.7 percent from a year earlier.

Cafes accounted for 13.4 percent of the total food service establishments in 2023, compared with just 9.3 percent in 2018.

Korea's exports of coffee-related products came to $229.6 million in 2024, up 4.6 percent from a year earlier.

Outbound shipments to Israel accounted for 18.1 percent, followed by China with 15.4 percent and Australia with 7.1 percent.

Yonhap