Credit: Public domain.
The latest sign of collapsing domestic consumption is the decline in franchised businesses, most of which are restaurants. According to the Fair Trade Commission 공정거래위원회’s FY 2024 report, the number of franchised brands in South Korea was 12,377, a decline of 0.4% - the first decline since 2019, when the FTC began tracking the number.
Approximately 80% of all franchise brands are restaurants, followed by services (15.6%) and retail sales (4.6%). Only 4% of franchise brands have 100 or more outlets; most (72.7%) have ten or fewer stores.
