K-Content Export Landscape Shifts... North America and Europe Rise as Asia Slows Down

First-half surplus down $244.9 million
Content exports rose in North America and Europe, but fell in Asia

The center of gravity in the K-content export market is shifting from Asia to North America and Europe. In the first half of this year, exports to North America and Europe posted double-digit growth, while exports to Asia, the largest market, declined. Overall exports continued to grow, but the multimedia services trade surplus fell sharply as the copyright balance turned negative.

The scene at the International Broadcasting Market (BCWW), held last month at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News.

According to the Content Industry Trends Index published by the Korea Culture & Tourism Institute on October 19, domestic content industry service exports totaled $5.84 billion in the first half of this year, up 2.0% from the same period last year. Exports to North America and Europe rose 22.1% and 47.0%, respectively, while exports to Asia fell 17.3%. As a result, Asia's share of total exports dropped 11.3 percentage points, from 59.5% to 48.2%. The declining reliance on Asia highlights a clear diversification of export markets.

By industry, games retained their position as the largest export category, accounting for 48.8% of total exports. However, export value fell 1.1%. Exports increased by $281.1 million in North America and $268.8 million in Europe, respectively, but declined by $581.2 million in Asia. The $610.5 million drop in exports to China alone weighed on overall performance.

Music exports rose 15.2%, overtaking broadcasting and video, which fell 9.9%, in the export share rankings. This was driven by increases of $68.9 million in Asia and $34.6 million in North America. Broadcasting and video, by contrast, performed poorly, with exports to North America alone falling by $115.9 million. Film exports rose 22.6% to $60.3 million. Content solutions recorded the highest growth rate, surging 54.3% to $549.4 million.

The scene at the International Broadcasting and Video Market (BCWW), held last month at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul. Yonhap News Agency

Despite the increase in content exports, the multimedia services trade balance deteriorated. Based on the Bank of Korea's knowledge services trade statistics, the combined balance for production services and copyrights showed a surplus of $337.9 million in the first half, down $244.9 million from the same period last year. The production services balance improved, but the copyright balance's shift to a deficit weighed on the total.

The copyright balance shifted from a surplus of $369 million in the first half of last year to a deficit of $39.1 million this year. Exports fell 24.6%, dropping below imports. The copyright balance with the United States swung sharply from a surplus of $126 million to a deficit of $241.2 million. Exports to the United States fell 38.8%, while imports rose 37.3%.

Multimedia services balances varied by region. North America swung from a surplus of $255.3 million to a deficit of $14.8 million. Asia maintained a surplus, but it narrowed. Europe, meanwhile, improved, reducing its deficit by $56.5 million. In particular, multimedia imports from the United Kingdom fell 40.0%, narrowing the deficit by $79.3 million and driving the improvement in Europe's overall balance.

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