How many restaurants and hotels are there in South Korea and Taiwan, how much do they sell, how digital are they and what do their staff earn?
South Korea has 789K restaurants, cafés and bars with KRW 198,881B in sales (2024); the share of them selling via delivery fell from 37.3% in 2021 to 32.3%, while the share with a payment kiosk rose from 5.5% to 10.1%, and online food ordering reached KRW 41.6T in 2025. In Taiwan, 50,631 food and beverage businesses reported TWD 710.1B in sales in 2025, and a restaurant cook earns TWD 41,030 a month.
Statistics Korea (MODS) Service Industry Survey 2021–2024 and Online Shopping Trends to August 2026; Ministry of Science and ICT Digital Industry Survey 2025; Taiwan Fiscal Information Agency business-tax statistics 2019–2025; Taiwan Ministry of Labor Occupational Wage Survey, July 2025 · verified as of
South Korea: restaurants, cafés and bars — size and revenue (KSIC 56)
Establishments, not companies. People engaged include owners and unpaid family workers. Revenue is nominal; 2024 figures are provisional. The number of outlets is shrinking while revenue per outlet grows.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants, cafés and bars — businesses | 801K | KSIC 56 establishments | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants, cafés and bars — businesses | 789K | KSIC 56 establishments · down three years running | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants, cafés and bars — people engaged | 2.05M | incl. owners and unpaid family workers | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants, cafés and bars — sales revenue | KRW 150,763B | nominal | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants, cafés and bars — sales revenue | KRW 198,881B | nominal · provisional | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Revenue per business | KRW 188M | average across KSIC 56 | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Revenue per business | KRW 252M | average across KSIC 56 | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Revenue per person engaged | KRW 97M | average across KSIC 56 | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
South Korea: how restaurants sell — delivery, platforms, kiosks, robots
Shares of all KSIC 56 establishments, except the two Digital Industry Survey rows, which use a different base (accommodation and food businesses that use digital platforms) and a broader definition (kiosk ordering, not only payment). Do not compare the two kiosk numbers directly.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Restaurants selling via delivery | 37.3% | share of KSIC 56 establishments | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants selling via delivery | 35.6% | share of KSIC 56 establishments | 2022 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants selling via delivery | 33.2% | share of KSIC 56 establishments | 2023 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants selling via delivery | 32.3% | share of KSIC 56 establishments · third year of decline | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants transacting via digital platforms | 21.7% | share of KSIC 56 establishments · 20.7% in 2021 | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants with a self-service payment kiosk | 5.5% | share of KSIC 56 establishments | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Restaurants with a self-service payment kiosk | 10.1% | share of KSIC 56 establishments | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Hotels and restaurants using kiosk ordering | 28.9% | different survey: accommodation and food businesses using digital platforms | 2024 | eiec.kdi.re.kr |
| Hotels and restaurants using serving or reception robots | 0.4% | same survey and base as the row above | 2024 | eiec.kdi.re.kr |
South Korea: online food-service ordering (delivery apps and other online channels)
Transaction value of the 'food services' group in the national online shopping statistics — mostly delivery ordering, almost all of it on mobile. Source unit is KRW 100 million; shown here in KRW trillion, rounded.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Online food-service ordering — transaction value | KRW 32.4T | all online channels, food services | 2023 | mods.go.kr |
| Online food-service ordering — transaction value | KRW 37.2T | all online channels, food services | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Online food-service ordering — transaction value | KRW 41.6T | all online channels, food services | 2025 | mods.go.kr |
| Online food-service ordering — quarterly value | KRW 10.9T | flat vs 2025-Q4 (KRW 10.9T) | 2026-Q2 | mods.go.kr |
| Online food-service ordering — growth year on year | 7.6% | August 2026 vs August 2025 · preliminary | 2026-08 | mods.go.kr |
| Food services — share of all online shopping | 16.4% | preliminary | 2026-08 | mods.go.kr |
| Mobile share of online food-service ordering | 99.1% | preliminary | 2026-08 | mods.go.kr |
South Korea: accommodation — size, revenue and digital adoption (KSIC 55)
Hotels, motels, guesthouses and other lodging establishments. More than half now transact through digital platforms (booking apps and OTAs); payment kiosks are rare.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Accommodation — businesses | 62K | KSIC 55 establishments | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation — businesses | 69K | KSIC 55 establishments | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation — people engaged | 180K | incl. owners and unpaid family workers | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation — sales revenue | KRW 12,322B | nominal | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation — sales revenue | KRW 20,272B | nominal · provisional | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation — revenue per business | KRW 293M | average across KSIC 55 | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation transacting via digital platforms | 44.3% | share of KSIC 55 establishments | 2021 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation transacting via digital platforms | 55.7% | share of KSIC 55 establishments | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
| Accommodation with a self-service payment kiosk | 7.9% | share of KSIC 55 establishments · 6.3% in 2021 | 2024 | mods.go.kr |
Taiwan: restaurants and hotels — businesses and reported sales
Businesses that file business tax themselves. Small outlets assessed a fixed tax by the tax office are excluded, so the counts are a lower bound on the number of outlets. Sales are nominal TWD; source values are in TWD, shown here in billions, rounded.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage services — businesses filing business tax | 35,403 | self-filing businesses only · lower bound of outlets | 2019 | fia.gov.tw |
| Food and beverage services — businesses filing business tax | 50,631 | self-filing businesses only · lower bound of outlets | 2025 | fia.gov.tw |
| Food and beverage services — reported sales | TWD 426.4B | nominal | 2019 | fia.gov.tw |
| Food and beverage services — reported sales | TWD 710.1B | nominal | 2025 | fia.gov.tw |
| Bars, nightclubs and hostess venues — businesses | 276 | special F&B tax code · 407 in 2019 | 2025 | fia.gov.tw |
| Accommodation — businesses filing business tax | 4,579 | self-filing businesses only | 2019 | fia.gov.tw |
| Accommodation — businesses filing business tax | 4,990 | self-filing businesses only | 2025 | fia.gov.tw |
| Accommodation — reported sales | TWD 123.3B | nominal · pandemic low | 2020 | fia.gov.tw |
| Accommodation — reported sales | TWD 176.0B | nominal | 2025 | fia.gov.tw |
Taiwan: hospitality staff — regular monthly earnings by occupation (July 2025)
Regular monthly earnings (excluding bonuses and overtime) of employees at end-July 2025. 'All hospitality' is accommodation and food service together; hotel and restaurant rows are subsets.
| Metric | Value | Segment | Period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food and beverage servers (incl. counter staff) | TWD 35,646/month | all hospitality · 163,925 employees | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Cooks (incl. kitchen supervisors) | TWD 41,597/month | all hospitality · 76,095 employees | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Cooks in hotels | TWD 45,455/month | accommodation only | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Cooks in restaurants | TWD 41,030/month | restaurants only | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Kitchen helpers (incl. fast-food cooks) | TWD 32,072/month | all hospitality · 29,529 employees | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Receptionists and front-desk clerks | TWD 34,193/month | all hospitality · 8,406 employees | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Beverage makers and bartenders | TWD 33,331/month | all hospitality · 22,802 employees | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Managers and supervisors | TWD 52,419/month | all hospitality · 75,786 employees | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
| Managers and supervisors in hotels | TWD 56,999/month | accommodation only | 2025-07 | apiservice.mol.gov.tw |
Why the Korean kiosk and delivery numbers seem to disagree, and why Korea and Taiwan counts are not comparable
Kiosks: the Service Industry Survey counts self-service payment kiosks across all restaurant, café and bar establishments (10.1% in 2024). The Digital Industry Survey of the Ministry of Science and ICT reports 28.9% for kiosk ordering, but its base is accommodation and food businesses that already use digital platforms — a more digital group — and it counts ordering, not only payment. Both are true for their own base. Delivery: the share of restaurants selling via delivery has fallen for three years, while the value of online food ordering keeps rising. One is a count of outlets, the other is money: fewer outlets do delivery, and those that do sell more through it. Korea against Taiwan: Korea counts every establishment in a sample survey, including owner-run outlets; Taiwan counts only businesses that file business tax themselves, which leaves out small fixed-tax outlets. Use each country's figures for its own trend, not to compare market sizes. All revenue and sales values are nominal and in local currency; nothing is converted.
Statistics Korea (MODS) — Service Industry Survey, 2024 results · Statistics Korea (MODS) — Online Shopping Trends · Ministry of Science and ICT — Digital Industry Survey (KDI Economic Information Center) · Taiwan Fiscal Information Agency — business tax by industry · Taiwan Ministry of Labor — Occupational Wage Survey
Methodology
Every number on this page is a fact node in the God of Startups Atlas — a knowledge graph where each metric carries its source URL, reporting period, evidence tier and the verbatim quote it was taken from. All rows are tier 1: national statistics offices, ministries and tax authorities of South Korea and Taiwan. Values are shown in the currency the source reports; large values are rounded to billions or trillions, nothing is converted, estimated or modelled.
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