K-beauty breaks records: South Korea’s cosmetics surplus tops $10B
South Korea’s cosmetics industry recorded a trade surplus exceeding $10 billion in 2025, marking a milestone for the country’s booming K-beauty sector, Yonhap reports.
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the surplus rose 13.5% year-on-year to reach $10.1 billion in 2025, continuing a steady climb since South Korea first posted a cosmetics surplus of $90 million in 2012. The figure has grown rapidly in recent years, from $6.6 billion in 2022 to $7.1 billion in 2023 and $8.9 billion in 2024.
Cosmetics accounted for 12.9% of south Korea’s overall trade surplus of $78 billion, underscoring their role as one of the nation’s leading surplus-generating industries.
The ministry noted that South Korea’s overall trade surplus was the highest since 2017, with cosmetics contributing more than 10% of the total. The record performance was attributed to the global popularity of Korean cultural exports, including K-pop and K-dramas.
Earlier, it was reported that a Korean company had unveiled plans to build cosmetics plant in Kyrgyzstan.
