Cafes no longer just for young people as 50-plus spending surges

Kim, a 58-year-old housewife living in Mapo District, Seoul, meets her friends at neighborhood cafes two to three times a week. “In the past, we used to gather only at restaurants, but now it has become routine to spend a couple of hours chatting over a cup of coffee,” she said. “Although the prices are a bit higher, I visit cafes more often because of their atmosphere and comfort.” She also enjoys what she calls “cafe tours” with her husband on weekends, visiting new spots together. “With so many unique cafes around, it feels like taking a small trip,” she added. The leading consumer group in Korea’s cafe market is shifting rapidly from people in their 20s and 30s to those in their 50s and 60s. Finda, a Seoul-based fintech company, analyzed nationwide cafe spending data for the first half of each year from 2019 to 2025 using its artificial intelligence-powered commercial district analysis platform. The results show that consumers aged 50 and above now make up 31 percent of total cafe payments, up from 17.3 percent in the first half of 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times