Selecting 'K-Beauty' [Yonhap News Photo]
According to Yonhap News,
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Jang Bo-in – Amid the growing popularity of domestic consumer goods in the global market driven by the spread of the Korean Wave, the breakthrough of 'K-cosmetics' is particularly prominent in the first half of this year.
According to the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE) on the 7th, cosmetics exports last month increased 24.2 percent compared to the same month last year to USD 1.18 billion, breaking the record for the highest performance ever achieved in the month of May. As preference for K-beauty expands, it is playing a solid role as a major export driver.
Cosmetics export volume reached the USD 10 billion mark for the first time in history in 2024 at USD 10.2 billion, and subsequently set an all-time high export record last year at USD 11.4 billion.
The upward trend continues this year. The cumulative export volume from January to May has surpassed USD 5.6 billion, significantly exceeding the performance of the same period last year, which was approximately USD 4.6 billion. It has risen to the number one export item among the five major promising consumer goods, which consist of agricultural and fisheries food, cosmetics, fashion apparel, household goods, and pharmaceuticals.
Looking at the export trends of the five major consumer goods over the past three years, the representative item with the largest export volume was agricultural and fisheries food. Agricultural and fisheries food had already surpassed USD 10 billion in exports in 2021 and charted a continuous upward trajectory, recording USD 12.4 billion last year. However, the export volume of agricultural and fisheries food from January to May this year stood at around USD 5.4 billion, falling behind cosmetics.
While cosmetics exports to China, traditionally the largest buyer, are on a declining trend, demand has expanded in regions such as Europe and the Americas.
According to the Korea International Trade Association statistics (K-stat), looking at cosmetics exports from January to April, exports to the United States were the largest at USD 880 million, representing a 40.5 percent increase year-on-year. Although exports to China decreased 14 percent compared to the previous year to USD 650 million, it maintained its second-place position, followed by Japan at USD 410 million, a 14 percent increase.
In addition, exports to the United Kingdom reached USD 160 million and the Netherlands recorded USD 110 million, surging by 172.2 percent and 231.0 percent year-on-year, respectively. Germany (122.6 percent), Estonia (225.1 percent), and Mexico (116.8 percent) also demonstrated three-digit growth rates.
Although it conceded the top spot to cosmetics, agricultural and fisheries food is also drawing a growth curve. Despite a decline in the exports of luxury grocery items such as coffee and alcoholic beverages, as well as processed fisheries products last month, exports of processed agricultural products including noodles and bread increased, resulting in an overall expansion of 4.7 percent to record USD 1.07 billion. Household and baby products fell 4.9 percent to USD 650 million, whereas pharmaceuticals (USD 960 million, a 5.3 percent increase) and fashion apparel (USD 200 million, a 0.9 percent increase) expanded.
The government plans to bolster consumer goods exports while the overall export upswing continues, spearheaded by semiconductors. MOTIE previously presented a target to achieve USD 70 billion in promising consumer goods exports by 2030 by nurturing premium K-consumer goods enterprises.
The Hyundai Research Institute emphasized in a report last month titled 'USD 1 Trillion in Exports Depends on K' that the export portfolio must be diversified by high-value-adding promising new industries and consumer goods items. The report suggested, "In order for items with high growth potential, such as cosmetics and agricultural and fisheries food, to establish themselves as secondary mainstay export industries, there is a need to vitalize customized export financial support and consulting for responding to local regulations."
boin@yna.co.kr
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Source Text
Source: Yonhap News (June 07, 2026)
** This article was translated from Korean.