Instant noodles are displayed on shelves at a supermarket in Seoul on Sept. 15.YONHAP
Korea’s exports of cosmetics, food and bio products have more than quadrupled over the past decade, as companies moved beyond China into the United States and Europe and smaller firms became new engines of export growth.
Outbound shipments of seven representative food, beauty and bio products totaled $15.59 billion from January to August, according to a 10-year analysis of Korean consumer goods exports released Tuesday by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). That was 4.2 times the $3.74 billion recorded in the same period of 2016, well above the 2.2-times increase in all exports during that time.
The analysis covered ramyeon, gim (seasoned laver) and snacks in the food category, skin care and other cosmetics in beauty and immunological products and finished pharmaceuticals in the bio sector.
Exports to the United States grew 11.9 times, from $230 million to $2.74 billion, while exports to Europe rose 11-fold from $490 million to $5.36 billion. Exports to China and Hong Kong grew only 1.2 times.
Beauty saw the sharpest shift in markets. China and Hong Kong took 74.2 percent of the category’s exports in 2016, but this year China and Hong Kong, the United States and Europe each account for about 20 percent. Exports to the United States grew 15.3 times and exports to Europe grew 43.9 times, significantly reducing the industry’s reliance on a single market.
The United States has emerged as the key market for food. Combining ramyeon, gim and snacks, the United States overtook China as the largest export destination for the category in 2020. This year, it accounts for 40.4 percent of seasoned laver exports, 28.1 percent of snack exports and 17.6 percent of ramyeon exports.
Europe has become more important for bio products. Its share of the category’s exports rose from 32.3 percent in 2016 to 57.1 percent this year, driven by growing supplies of biosimilars.
A visitor tests a cosmetics product during the 2025 Seoul Beauty Week at the Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung District, central Seoul, on Aug. 28, 2025.YONHAP
The types of companies driving exports also differed by category. Small and midsize companies accounted for 93.1 percent of food exports and 91.3 percent of beauty exports from January to August. In bio, by contrast, large companies took 72.8 percent, up 20.8 percentage points from 2016.
The growth of smaller firms was most pronounced in the beauty sector. Their cosmetics exports rose four-and-a-half-fold, from $1.38 billion in the first eight months of 2016 to $6.18 billion in the same period this year. The number of small companies exporting skin care products more than doubled, from 2,808 in 2016 to 6,019 last year.
The KCCI said that sustaining the growth will require strategies tailored to each country’s certification rules, distribution networks and trade environment. It called for support to help small companies open initial sales channels and handle logistics, as well as a stronger support system to help them grow into midsize firms.
“Since each product category grows in a different way, we need tailored strategies that consider regional and corporate characteristics to turn the export base built by thousands of small and midsize companies into a sustained growth engine,” said Lee Si-wook, the head of economic research at the KCCI.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
