South Korea’s imports of coffee soared nearly 45.1 percent in the first 11 months of 2022 from a year earlier.

The value of the country’s coffee imports came to $1.19 billion in the January-November period, up 45.1 percent from the previous year, according to the data from the Korea Customs Service.

It marks the first time that South Korea’s yearly coffee imports have exceeded $1 billion. Last year’s amount was up 16.7-fold from 20 years earlier.

With coffee consumption surging, 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 percent from a year earlier and a new all-time high. (Yonhap)