Busan's cafe market has moved from an "expansion phase" into a "survival race," data showed. Over the past decade, the number of businesses nearly tripled and sales grew, marking outward expansion, but startup enthusiasm has cooled while closures have hit a record high.
According to "Busan Cafes Viewed Through Big Data," released by the Dongnam Regional Data Office on the 27th, there were 9,182 cafes in Busan in 2024, up 199% from 2015 (3,071). That amounts to nearly a threefold increase over the past decade. In particular, Busan had the largest number of cafes among the country's six major metropolitan cities. However, the number of businesses declined for the first time, from 9,424 in 2023 to 9,182 in 2024, indicating that the growth trend has eased. Individual cafes peaked at 8,574 in 2023 before turning to decline, while the share of corporate cafes rose to 9.7%, reaching 893.
Signs of market saturation are more evident in startup and closure indicators. Cafe startups totaled 1,375 in 2024, continuing a decline since 2021 (1,925), and the startup rate of 15.0% was the lowest in the past 10 years. In contrast, closures reached 1,470, maintaining a record high following 2023, with a closure rate of 16.0%. In 2024, there were 95 more closures than startups, showing that generational turnover in the cafe market is accelerating.
While sales rose, not all cafes grew. As of 2024, the average cafe sales stood at 150.9 million won, up 47.7% from 2015, and median sales more than doubled to 63 million won. However, the three-year survival rate was only 43.7%, meaning about six out of every 10 cafes opened fail to last three years, the analysis found. In particular, Busanjin-gu (36.7%) and Suyeong-gu (36.4%) had low survival rates, while Yeongdo-gu was the highest at 65.1%.
Consumption structure is also changing. Last year, domestic card spending at Busan cafes reached 375.3 billion won, up 16.7% from 2023. Of this, spending by those aged 40 and older accounted for 68.6%. In particular, spending by those aged 60 and older reached 84.4 billion won, rising 42.9% over two years for the highest growth rate. This means cafe consumption is expanding from younger consumers to the middle-aged and older population.
Foreign spending is also rising sharply. Last year, foreign card spending reached 5.87 billion won, up 73% from two years earlier. Spending from the United States (1.41 billion won) was the largest, but the increases from Greater China and Southeast Asian countries were notable, including Singapore (1,028.6%), Hong Kong (1,000.1%), and Taiwan (543.4%). This is interpreted as the recent recovery of Greater China tourists and the increase in individual Asian travelers leading to Busan cafe spending.
By region, Haeundae remained the center of Busan's cafe industry. Haeundae ranked highest in Busan across average sales (213 million won), median sales (84 million won), domestic card spending (93.9 billion won), and foreign card spending (1.58 billion won). In contrast, business growth rates were highest in Gangseo-gu (775%), Suyeong-gu (296.7%), and Gijang-gun (267.9%), confirming a trend of new cafe districts spreading to the outskirts.
