A $100 Million Increase in Hallyu Exports Leads to $200 Million Growth in Related Industries

Korea Creative Content Agency Analysis:
Music and Webtoons Drive Growth Beyond Games
Production Inducement Effects of 782.4 Billion Won, 3,389 Jobs Created

A new empirical analysis has found that the export of Korean Wave (Hallyu) content is also driving exports in related industries such as cosmetics, food, and tourism.

The Korean Content Agency’s Korean Pavilion at the China Licensing Expo held in Shanghai, China, last October.

On July 9, the Korea Creative Content Agency published a report titled "The Economic Effects of Hallyu Industry Exports," which analyzed export data from six regions, including Greater China, Japan, Southeast Asia, North America, and Europe, from 2006 to 2024. According to the report, when exports in Hallyu industries increase by 100 million dollars, exports in related industries rise by 202 million dollars.

This figure supports the hypothesis that cultural affinity formed by sharing the same content influences consumers’ purchasing decisions. The Korea Creative Content Agency has conducted three similar studies since 2012. In the first study, covering 2001–2011, the correlation coefficient was as high as 4.12 times. In the second study, covering 2006–2016, it decreased to 2.48 times, and in the third study, covering 2006–2020, it further dropped to 1.80 times. While the total value of content exports continued to grow, the contribution from IT device exports—which previously had a significant share among related industries—declined as domestic companies increased overseas production, narrowing the overall impact. In this fourth study, the inclusion of tourism exports among related industries expanded the multiplier effect back to 2.02 times.

By category, games still accounted for the largest share at 64.3% of Hallyu industry exports. However, remarkable growth was observed in other areas. Driven by K-pop, music exports grew by an average of 29.7% per year, and comics, fueled by the spread of webtoons, expanded by 26.3%. In contrast, the share of character goods fell from 15.1% in 2006 to just 3.5% last year. The share from broadcasting dropped to 4.2% in 2017 but recovered to 9.5% last year, thanks to the proliferation of global OTT platforms such as Netflix.

Olive Young's "Olive Young Festa JAPAN 2026" event held in Japan last May.

Among related industries, tourism accounted for the largest share at 37.5%, followed by food (22.7%), cosmetics (20%), IT devices (11.4%), and apparel (8.4%). In terms of growth rate, cosmetics led with an average annual increase of 21.3%. This is the result of expanding exports, once centered on Greater China, into North America and Europe. Korea has now become the world’s third-largest cosmetics exporter after France and the United States, and in the first half of this year, it even rose to second place. Exports of food products—mainly processed foods such as dumplings, ramen, and tteokbokki—also grew steadily at an average annual rate of 7.2%. In contrast, IT devices such as mobile phones and laptops were the only segment to post a decline, shrinking by an average of 6.3% per year as Korean companies increased overseas production.

Last year, content exports totaled 14.9 billion dollars, ranking as the twelfth-largest export category among all Korean exports. This level surpassed exports of secondary batteries (7.23 billion dollars), home appliances (7.27 billion dollars), textiles (9.68 billion dollars), and computers (13.74 billion dollars). Since content exports first exceeded 2% of total exports in 2020, they have established themselves as a major export category.

When Hallyu industry exports increase by 100 million dollars, it is estimated to generate 570 million dollars (about 782.4 billion won) in domestic production and create 3,389 jobs. Specifically, 170 million dollars (234 billion won) in production and 1,251 jobs are generated in the content production process, while 400 million dollars (548.3 billion won) in production and 2,138 jobs are created in related industries.

Dubai spectators cheering while watching the Stray Kids performance. Photo by Yonhap News

Kim Yoonji, President of the Korea Creative Content Agency, who authored the report, stated, “These findings confirm that the ripple effect of the Hallyu industry (K-content) is having a positive impact on the overall real economy, including related industries.” She added, “Through research and analysis of Hallyu and related sectors, we will contribute to enhancing both the economic and cultural value of K-culture.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.