[News Space=Reporter seungwon lee] The industry with the highest sales per franchise in Korea is pharmacies that sell medicine, which was tallied at 1.3 billion won per year. In addition, convenience stores were found to have the largest number of franchise stores.
On December 24, Statistics Korea announced the '2023 Franchise (Franchise) Survey Results (Tentative)' containing the above information. The number of franchisee employees last year was 1,012,452, a 7.4% increase from a year ago (942,705). The number of franchisee employees increased by 24% in five years from 816,420 in 2018. Total sales reached 108.8 trillion won, the highest ever.
Last year, the number of franchise stores, including the three convenience stores and the “Big 3” chicken restaurants, exceeded 300,000, and the number of employees working in these stores also exceeded 1 million. This is interpreted as the result of an increasing number of people starting businesses under famous franchise brands.
Last year, the number of franchise stores increased by 5.2% from the previous year to 301,327. Convenience stores were the most with 54,823, followed by Korean restaurants (51,28) and cafes (coffee and non-alcoholic beverages, 32,238). Chicken came in fourth, and snack bars (kimbap, snack food) came in fifth.
Last year, the total number of employees in franchise stores was 1,012,452, up 7.4% from the previous year. Last year was also the first time that the number of franchise employees exceeded 1 million. Convenience stores had the largest number at 211,000 (20.9%), followed by Korean food (169,000, 16.7%) and coffee/non-alcoholic beverages (129,000, 12.7%).
The proportion of female employees was 60.4%, more than male employees (39.6%). This includes the franchise owners themselves, their family members who work with them, and part-time workers.
Last year, the total sales of franchise stores amounted to 108.754 trillion won, exceeding 100 trillion won for the second consecutive year following the previous year (100.324 trillion won). Sales per franchise store amounted to 360.92 million won, up 3% from the previous year.
The industry with the highest sales was convenience stores, which earned 27.9 trillion won (25.6%) last year. Next came Korean food with 17.6 trillion won, and chicken restaurants with 8.2 trillion won.
However, the ups and downs were starkly different by industry. In the case of stationery stores, sales per franchise store averaged 347 million won, a 16.7% drop from a year ago, and confectionery stores also saw a 2% decrease.
On the other hand, pubs (draft beer and other pubs) increased by 14.1% year-on-year to KRW 257 million, and home laundries also increased by 11.7%. Stationery stores and bakeries, where online purchases increased, saw sluggish sales, but pubs and laundries are interpreted to have seen some activity due to increased outdoor activities following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The industry with the highest sales per franchise was pharmaceuticals at 1.32945 billion won. Second place was auto repair (668.82 million won), and third place was convenience stores (508.27 million won). Fourth place was confectionery (bakery), and fifth place was eyeglass lens stores.
The sub-industries with the highest sales included household laundry (KRW 98.15 million), coffee and non-alcoholic beverages (KRW 207.61 million), and kimbap and snack foods (KRW 245.73 million).
By region, Gyeonggi had the most stores with 84,930 (26.7%), followed by Seoul (54,240, 16.7%). Including Incheon (17,380), the number of stores in the metropolitan area reached 148,297, accounting for 49.2% of the total.
Sales also exceeded half of total sales, reaching 58.5 trillion won in the metropolitan area alone, including Gyeonggi (30.1 trillion won), Seoul (21.9 trillion won), and Incheon (6.5 trillion won).