Project Café East Asia 2026, World Coffee Portal’s ground-breaking analysis of the East Asian branded coffee shop market, reveals the total regional market grew 18.4% by outlets over the last 12 months to reach 180,268 stores, with China adding an astonishing 20,000 stores and Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines all achieving double-digit outlet growth
East Asia is emerging as one of the world’s most influential regions for coffee culture and commerce. Led by China, which overtook the US as the world’s largest branded coffee shop market in 2023 and is now home to more than 87,500 stores, fast-growing East Asian coffee markets are honing distinct identities with innovative flavours and new ways of transacting.
Six of the top eight largest markets achieved double-digit outlet growth over the last year, except South Korea (6.6%) – still a remarkable feat for a market with a density of 792 coffee shops per million inhabitants – and Japan (2.6%), which has experienced an economic slowdown over the last year.
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