The number of coffee shops in Seoul has increased 17 percent annually over the past four years to reach 9,400 as of 2011, according to the latest data from the Seoul Institute (SI) Wednesday.

The growth rate of the ubiquitous cafes outpaced that of other eateries, with the number of overall food and beverage shops growing 1.69 percent on average during the same period.

By district, Gangnam-gu had the highest number of coffee shops with 1,128 or 12 percent of the total, followed by Jongno-gu with 819, Mapo-gu with 759, and Seocho-gu with 630.

Yongsan-gu posted the biggest growth rate of 28.1 percent.

"While the number of coffee shops is increasing rapidly, the number of pubs or bars selling alcoholic beverage has been dwindling. This reflects changes in the pattern of consumption and lifestyle of Seoulites," said Park Hee-seok, the director of SI.