The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Jan. 6 said cosmetics exports last year set a record-high USD 10.2 billion. Shown are visitors in October 2024 at the K-Beauty Expo held at the Korea International Exhibition Center, aka KINTEX, in Goyang, Gyeonggi-do Province. (Expo's official website)

By Koh Hyunjeong

Cosmetics exports set a record high last year.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Jan. 6 said such shipments in 2024 reached USD 10.2 billion.

Such products surpassed USD 1 billion in exports for the first time in 2012, and later posted USD 9.2 billion in 2021 and USD 8.46 billion in 2023. They marked USD 1 billion alone in October last year.

By market, China was the biggest with USD 2.5 billion, followed by the U.S. (USD 1.9 billion) and Japan (USD 1 billion). By product type, basic cosmetics took up the lion's share with USD 7.67 billion, with color cosmetics a distant second with USD 1.35 billion.

Korean cosmetics were also the top imported brands in the U.S. and Japan, surpassing even France's high-end giants.

Minister of Food and Drug Safety Oh Yu-Kyoung said, "We will strengthen cooperation between countries and support them to raise quality competitiveness that meets global standards in response to safety evaluations in countries like China and the U.S."

hjkoh@korea.kr