The number of franchise brands in South Korea rose 11.7 percent on-year last year as efforts to open new businesses remained solid despite the pandemic, data showed Thursday.

The number of franchise brands reached 7,094 as of end-December, compared with 6,353 the previous year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KTFC).

Dining-out brands accounted for the biggest portion of 76.2 percent of all franchise brands last year, the data showed.

The number of franchise outlets inched up 2 percent on-year to 258,900 in 2019, the latest year for which data is available.

The number of food service franchise brands and outlets rose in 2019 from a year earlier, but average sales per store declined amid an economic slowdown, KFTC said.

The number of dining-out brands rose 12.8 percent on-year to 5,404 in 2019, while that of franchises gained 5.3 percent to nearly 130,000.

But their revenue per outlet averaged 310 million won ($275,000) in 2019, down 0.3 percent from a year earlier.

The face-to-face service segment, such as restaurants and accommodations, took a severe beating from the COVID-19 pandemic last year as people refrained from visiting shops on concerns about infection.

Service output declined 2 percent on-year in 2020, compared with a 0.5 percent gain in production of the manufacturing sector. (Yonhap)