TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – According to statistics from 2017, Taiwan possesses the second highest ratio of convenience stores per population density of any country in the world.
At the beginning of March 2017, there were 10,662 different convenience stores in Taiwan, with an average of one convenience store for every 2,211 people across the country, according to Statistics Department of the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).
The only nation with a higher percentage of convenience stores per population is South Korea, which possesses well over 35,000 convenience store location by the end of 2016. There is one convenience store in South Korea for every 1,452 people.
Also in the neighborhood, Japan possesses the third highest amount of stores relative to population density. At the end of 2017, Japan had 56, 374 convenience stores, with one store for every 2,248 people.
According to the Census and Statistics Department convenience store sales in Taiwan for 2017 marked a record high of NT$317.3 billion (US$10.8 billion), an annual increase of 2.8 percent compared to 2016.
UDN reports that the number has continued to grow steadily over the past 18 years. In just the first two months of 2018, the sales of convenience stores appear to be rapidly increasing, already evidencing a 7 percent year-on-year increase compared to the same two month period last year.
A new record high is already expected for 2018.
Taiwanese convenience stores, with their wide variety of services and products, along with their wide spread distribution and convenient access make them a very important part of Taiwanese society.
