Total exports driven by hallyu, or the Korean Wave, reached approximately $19 billion last year, posting a double-digit growth rate from the previous year. Music exports surged 84% year-on-year, boosted in part by the success of "KPop Demon Hunters."
According to the "2025 Study on the Economic Impact of Hallyu" released Friday by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange, total exports driven by hallyu reached $18.975 billion last year, up 15.9% from $16.367 billion the previous year.
By sector, cultural content exports driven by hallyu totaled $10.188 billion, while consumer goods and tourism exports reached $8.788 billion. These figures represent increases of 14.2% and 18.0%, respectively, from the previous year. Researchers also found that music exports jumped 84.0% and tourism exports surged 37.8%, driven by the "KPop Demon Hunters" phenomenon.
Hallyu generated a production inducement effect of 48.28 trillion won, a value-added inducement effect of 20.7925 trillion won, and an employment inducement effect of 242,370 people. Over the 10 years since 2015, the growth rate of hallyu-related exports (2.68-fold) was double that of overall goods and services exports (1.36-fold).
However, structural changes in hallyu and regional disparities were also detected. The number of countries in the "hallyu popularization stage" expanded to 13, and the spread was pronounced as both the Hallyu Status Index and the Sentiment Index rose together in Western regions such as the United States and Britain, as well as in the Middle East. In contrast, warning signs were detected in Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam—key hallyu markets—where both indices declined simultaneously.
"We will deepen local research in major markets and develop it into a practical foundation for hallyu policy," said Park Chang-sik, president of the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange.
