Cosmetic exports top $5.6 bil. in Jan.-May, Seoul's top consumer export item

Shoppers look at cosmetics products at an Olive Young outlet in Seoul, Nov. 24. Yonhap

South Korea's outbound shipments of cosmetics jumped sharply from a year earlier in the first five months of the year, making beauty products the country's top consumer export item, government data showed Sunday.

Combined outbound shipments of Korean beauty products came to $5.6 billion during the January-May period, up from $4.6 billion recorded a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Resources.

The ministry said demand for South Korean cosmetics has continued to expand in Europe and the United States, despite a decline in exports to China, traditionally one of the country's largest overseas markets.

Notably, cosmetics became the top export item among the country's five major consumer goods categories -- agricultural and fishery products, cosmetics, fashion apparel, household goods and pharmaceuticals.

Over the past three years, agricultural and fishery products had consistently ranked as the largest export category among the five consumer goods sectors.

South Korea's cosmetic exports surpassed the $10 billion mark for the first time in 2024, before reaching an all-time high of $11.4 billion in 2025.