Seoul: South Korea imported over 2 trillion won (US$1.38 billion) worth of coffee last year, breaching the 2 trillion-won mark for the first time in its history largely due to a hike in global prices and a weak Korean won, data showed Sunday.

According to Yonhap News Agency, coffee imports amounted to 2.65 trillion won last year, up 41 percent from 2024, as per the data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corp. In dollar terms, the country's coffee imports jumped 35 percent on-year to $1.86 billion from $1.38 billion over the cited period.

The sharp increase was largely attributed to recent hikes in global prices of coffee, which reached a record high of over $4 per pound in February 2025 before dropping to around $3.5. The weak local currency also pushed up the won-denominated amount of coffee imports as the Korean won had weakened to multiple year lows throughout last year.

In terms of volume, imports of coffee dipped 46 tons from a year earlier to 215,792 tons in 2025, according to the data.