SEOUL, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The number of franchise stores in South Korea logged the highest growth last year due in part to stronger demand for foreign foods, statistical office data showed Monday.
The number of businesses under franchise totaled 259,662 in 2021, up 10.6 percent from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.
It was the fastest increase since relevant data began to be compiled in 2013.
The number of franchise restaurants selling foreign dishes surged 38.0 percent last year, while the figures for snack bars and opticians' shops advanced 19.2 percent and 17.7 percent, respectively.
Franchise convenience stores, Korean food restaurants, and fried chicken shops numbered 49,098, 40,548 and 28,594, respectively, last year, accounting for 45.5 percent of the total franchise outlets in the Asian country.
Employees working in the franchise sector totaled 834,290 in 2021, up 4.0 percent from the prior year.
Convenience stores, Korean food restaurants and coffee shops hired 47.6 percent of the total workers in the sector.
The combined revenue in franchise stores gained 14.2 percent to 84.8 trillion won (66.5 billion U.S. U.S. dollars) in 2021.
On average, each franchise shop reported annual sales of 326.6 million won (256,160 U.S. dollars) in 2021, up 3.3 percent from the previous year. ■
