There are over 18,000 coffee stores in Korea. At the heart of this stiff competition, Starbucks stands out as one of the major coffee chains in the country. Starbucks in Korea has gained so much popularity that you are likely to run into a store at every corner. In this article, we will cover the distribution of Starbucks in Korea.
Starbucks has become one of the most popular coffee houses in Korea since its launch in 1998. As of 2023, the coffee chain has over 1700 stores in the country with over 2000 employees. While it may be a big coffee house in Korea, Starbucks still faces stiff competition from local coffee houses. Despite this, the coffee chains revenue has increased steadily after hitting 1 trillion Korean won for the first time in 2016.
Table of Contents
Starbucks locations in Korea by province
Province |
Number of Stores |
Seoul Teugbyeolsi |
1000 |
Busan Gwang’yeogsi |
200 |
Jeolanam-Do |
200 |
Cheongju |
190 |
Gyeonggido |
34 |
Cheonan Shinbudong |
20 |
Jeonju |
20 |
Incheon Gwang`yeogsi |
9 |
Daegu Gwang`yeogsi |
8 |
Gyeongsangnamdo |
6 |
Gyeongsangbugdo |
4 |
Gwangju Gwang`yeogsi |
4 |
Daejeon Gwang`yeogsi |
3 |
Ulsan Gwang`yeogsi |
3 |
Gang`weondo |
2 |
Top 10 Korean cities with the highest number of Starbucks
City |
Number of Starbucks locations |
Seoul |
1000 |
Busan |
180 |
Gyunggi |
10 |
Incheon |
9 |
Kyongki |
8 |
Daegu |
5 |
Daejeon |
5 |
Ulsan |
3 |
Gyeongsanbukdo |
2 |
Kwangju |
2 |
Starbucks revenue in South Korea from 2012-2022
Year |
Revenue in Korean Won |
2012 |
391 billion |
2013 |
482 billion |
2014 |
617 billion |
2015 |
774 billion |
2016 |
1.2 trillion |
2017 |
1.3 trillion |
2018 |
1.5 trillion |
2019 |
1.8 trillion |
2020 |
1.9 trillion |
2021 |
2.4 trillion |
2022 |
2.6 trillion |
Top 5 major Starbucks competitors in Korea
Competitor Name |
Number of Stores |
EDIYA Coffee |
3500 |
Caffe Bene |
945 |
Angel In Us Coffee |
850 |
Twosome Place |
600 |
Hollys Coffee |
560 |
Kai Jordan worked as a Certified Nutrition Specialist and now a food critic whose main objective is to provide consumers with as much information as they need to make the right choices concerning foods and drinks. Jordan is passionate about helping the public reach their health-related goals but also keen on reviewing foods and drinks offered by some of the famous restaurants the likes of Starbucks.
Kai has therefore created well-researched and comprehensive excerpts regarding the services and products offered by the giant restaurant chain. And which can be retrieved from Starbmag.com, apart from talking writing, and dealing with food Kai loves also to Kayak. You can read more about me on the about us page.