This file photo taken on July 29, 2022, shows a fast food shop in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of franchise outlets in South Korea increased more than 10 percent on-year in 2021, data showed Monday, led by convenience stores and restaurants.
Franchise stores numbered 259,662 as of end-December last year, rising sharply from 234,872 a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The sector employed 834,000 people in 2021, up 4 percent from a year earlier. Their combined sales reached 84.8 trillion won (US$66.1 billion), up 14.2 percent from 2020, the data also showed.
On average, each franchise store posted annual sales of 326.6 million won, employing 3.2 workers.
The number of franchise convenience stores in South Korea came to 49,098 in 2021, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier. They accounted for nearly 19 percent of all franchise shops in the country.
The data also showed that the number of Korean restaurants advanced 14.7 percent over the period to reach 40,548, taking up 15.6 percent of all franchise shops.
The number of franchise restaurants selling international dishes soared 38 percent over the period to 11,457, taking up 4.4 percent of the total.
The number of fried chicken stores increased 4.7 percent in 2021 from a year earlier to 28,594, accounting for 11 percent of all franchise stores.
Gyeonggi Province held the highest number of franchise shops at 69,000 in 2021, followed by Seoul and South Gyeongsang Province with 46,000 and 18,000, respectively.
(Yonhap)
