Korea’s coffee imports jumped to a record high this year as specialty coffee consumption spreads among younger consumers, Korea International Trade Association said Sunday.

Korea imported a record $508 million worth of coffee between January and October, a surge from $307 million last year, the state-run trade agency said.

The import figures have continued to grow here since 2000, hitting the $300 million mark for the first time last year.

Coffee imports from Brazil accounted for the largest amount of $100 million last year, followed by Colombia with $91 million, Vietnam with $71 million and Honduras with $65 million.

Younger people enjoying coffee are believed to have driven the surge in coffee imports, the agency explained, with specialty coffee house chains springing up everywhere in recent years.

There were 5,782 coffee chain houses as of late last year, of which the top five brands Cafe Bene, Starbucks, Hollys, Coffee Bean and Angel-in-us Coffee operate some 2,000 locations.

Amid the popularity of specialty coffee here, the imports of Vietnamese coffee that is mainly used for making instant coffee sharply decreased, the agency said.

Vietnamese coffee saw its ratio decline drastically from 34.8 percent in 2008 to 13.8 percent last year, while coffee imports from South American countries where quality Arabica coffee beans are grown soared during the period.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)