TikTok will generate an economic impact of about 40 trillion won ($29 billion) for South Korea's economy by 2030, according to a new study. Spending by foreigners who discover Korean products, services and travel through the short-video platform is projected to reach 13.92 trillion won, with a production-inducing effect of 29.89 trillion won.
TikTok disclosed the findings on the 26th in a report titled "K-Culture on TikTok: Driving Global Economic Impact," produced jointly with global management consultancy Kearney. Jung Jae-hoon, head of operations at TikTok Korea, said at a press briefing at the Eliena Hotel in Seoul's Gangnam district that people around the world who encounter Korean culture through TikTok take an interest in Korean products and sometimes visit the country. "We wanted to find out what value this flow actually creates for the Korean economy," the executive said. TikTok and Kearney surveyed 3,300 consumers aged 16 to 49 across 10 countries, including the United States, Britain, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Japan, and analyzed the economic effect based on the results.
The report concluded that TikTok plays a meaningful role throughout the process by which foreigners consume Korean culture. Of those surveyed, 88.7% said TikTok is a platform that helps them discover Korean culture, while 61.4% said engaging with Korean culture on TikTok increases the likelihood of actions such as searching, watching and purchasing. Another 55.7% said they actually spent money after encountering Korean cultural content on the platform.
The report estimated that TikTok's contribution to foreign spending on Korean culture will reach about 10.75 trillion won this year. Jung Tae-hwan, associate partner at Kearney Korea, said the figure isolates the portion attributable to TikTok from what foreigners spent across six categories: K-beauty, food, travel, K-pop, media and fashion. "We analyzed the correlation between levels of engagement with Korean culture on TikTok and actual spending," the partner said.
TikTok's contribution to foreign spending on Korean culture is projected to rise to 13.92 trillion won by 2030. Factoring in growth in consumption and the inflow of new TikTok users, the report saw room for an additional 30% expansion over five years.
Spending that begins on TikTok also feeds into domestic production and employment. The report projected the production-inducing effect of TikTok-linked consumption at 20.62 trillion won this year and 29.89 trillion won in 2030. Among the six categories analyzed, food and cosmetics showed the largest 2030 projections, at 6.28 trillion won and 6.24 trillion won respectively. About 118,865 domestic jobs are expected to be sustained by TikTok-driven consumption five years from now.
In total, the economic effect of Korean culture attributable to TikTok is projected to reach about 40.64 trillion won in 2030, combining direct consumption of 13.92 trillion won with the production-inducing effect of 29.89 trillion won. "The task for Korean companies is to convert global interest into actual consumption and to raise the share of that consumption that accrues to Korea," the partner said, recommending that firms expand localized overseas information, product reviews and points of purchase. TikTok Korea is also preparing to launch TikTok Shop in the domestic market, linking content viewing to product purchases, though the company said a launch this year would be difficult.
TikTok also disclosed results from a $50 million (about 70 billion won) investment in Korea's content ecosystem announced in April. After the company doubled the payout size of its creator rewards program in Korea, the number of videos longer than one minute rose more than 90%, from a daily average of 75,000 to 143,000. Monthly active creators increased to 1.48 million from 1.4 million.
