SEOUL: South Korea’s cosmetics exports hit a record high last year, driven by the global popularity of Korean culture and the country’s efforts to diversify export markets, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing data released on Friday.
Outbound shipments of Korean beauty products rose 12.3 per cent from a year earlier to a record US$11.43 billion in 2025, according to the data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
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By country, exports to the United States (US) rose 15.1 per cent on-year to US$2.19 billion in 2025, while shipments to China fell 19.2 per cent to US$2.01 billion.
Exports to the US have been on a steady rise, making it the No. 1 destination for South Korean cosmetics for the first time ever last year.
Shipments to Japan increased 5 per cent to US$1.09 billion in 2025, and those to Hong Kong jumped 21.6 per cent to US$705 million.
The number of countries importing South Korean cosmetics reached 202 in 2025, up from 172 in 2024. Shipments to Europe, the Middle East, Southwest Asia and Latin America continued to grow, while the shares going to the US and China have declined, the ministry said.
By product category, skin care products, such as moisturisers, rose 11.6 per cent on-year to US$8.54 billion.
Colour cosmetics shipments climbed 12 per cent to US$1.51 billion, while body cleansing products jumped 27.3 per cent to US$590 million.
Fragrance exports surged 46.2 per cent to US$60 million in 2025, the data showed.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s air passenger traffic reached a record high in 2025 on strong overseas travel demand, government data showed on Friday, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The number of airline passengers at South Korean airports totalled 124.8 million last year, up 3.9 per cent from 120 million a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.
The figure marked the highest annual total, surpassing the previous peak of 123.4 million in 2019.
The increase was largely driven by a rise in the number of international passengers to and from South Korea, which rose 6.3 per cent year on year to around 94.5 million, while domestic travellers fell 2.8 per cent to 30.2 million over the period.
By destination, passengers to and from Japan rose 8.6 per cent year on year to more than 27.3 million, helped in part by the weak Japanese currency.
Travellers between South Korea and China jumped 22 per cent to 16.8 million, supported by visa-waiver programmes implemented by both countries.
Air passenger traffic to and from other Asian countries edged down 0.5 per cent year on year to 34.8 million.
A total of 6.8 million people travelled between South Korea and the United States last year, up 4.7 per cent from a year earlier, while 4.9 million air travellers used European routes, up 5.5 per cent year on year.
