SEOUL: The Korean Wave, or hallyu, generated US$19 billion in exports in 2025, with music exports surging 84 per cent from 2024, according to a report by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.
The report released on July 6, titled Study On The Hallyu Ecosystem, estimated that the Korean Wave’s economic impact grew in 2025 to reach US$18.98 billion in exports, up 15.9 per cent from 2024.
Among content exports, which grew 14.2 per cent overall, games remained the largest category despite an eight per cent decrease, totalling US$7.83 billion.
Music ranked second, with a drastic growth of 84 per cent to US$3.1 billion. Broadcasting exports also climbed 29.7 per cent to US$1.6 billion.
The report attributed the growth to Netflix’s massive hit film KPop Demon Hunters, and the expansion of AI-driven personalisation services, which accelerated the growth of global fandoms. The trend boosted exports of consumer goods such as K-food and K-beauty, as well as tourism.
The report surveyed 27,400 consumers aged 15 to 59 across 30 nations, with an equal gender distribution. All respondents were familiar with South Korea, and had consumed at least one piece of South Korean cultural content, including TV series, films, music, animations, games, books, beauty and fashion.
South Korea’s average image rating rose slightly to 3.8 out of 5, up from 3.7 a year earlier. Respondents in Indonesia, India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Egypt gave South Korea an average score of 4.0, while those in Japan (3.1), China (3.4), Taiwan (3.5) and Italy (3.5) gave comparatively lower ratings.
Females in their 10s, 20s and 30s accounted for the majority in consuming diverse K-content and spent more time consuming it.
However, males in their 20s and 30s spent more every month, a pattern unchanged from the 2024 study.
The report commented that the spending on beauty products was excluded from the analysis, while spending on games was included. - The Korea Herald/ANN
