The Korean Wave, globally recognized as Hallyu, continues its impressive global ascent, generating an astounding $19 billion in exports last year. A new report highlights a remarkable 84 percent surge in K-Pop and overall music exports from the previous year, underscoring its growing economic influence.
Released on Monday, a comprehensive “Study on the Hallyu Ecosystem” by the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism estimated the Korean Wave’s total economic impact. Hallyu exports reached $18.98 billion in 2025, marking a substantial 15.9 percent increase compared to 2024 figures.
Delving into specific content exports, which saw an overall growth of 14.2 percent, games maintained their position as the largest category. Despite an 8 percent decrease, game exports still totaled a significant $7.83 billion.
However, the most dramatic growth was observed in music exports, which soared to second place with an astonishing 84 percent increase, reaching $3.1 billion. Broadcasting exports also experienced robust expansion, climbing 29.7 percent to $1.6 billion.
The report attributes this significant growth to major successes like the massive global hit “KPop Demon Hunters” and the increasing adoption of AI-driven personalization services. These factors have notably accelerated the expansion of global fandoms, which in turn boosted exports of various consumer goods such as popular K-food and K-beauty products, alongside a rise in tourism.
To gather these insights, the study surveyed 27,400 consumers aged 15 to 59 across 30 nations, with an equal gender distribution. All respondents were familiar with Korea and had consumed at least one form of Korean cultural content, including TV series, films, music, animations, games, books, beauty, and fashion.
South Korea’s average image rating subtly improved to 3.8 out of 5, up from 3.7 a year earlier. Respondents in countries such as Indonesia, India, the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt gave South Korea a higher average score of 4.0. In contrast, those in Japan (3.1), China (3.4), Taiwan (3.5), and Italy (3.5) provided comparatively lower ratings.
Analysis of consumption patterns revealed that females in their 10s, 20s, and 30s represented the majority of diverse K-content consumers and dedicated more time to engaging with it. Interestingly, males in their 20s and 30s reported higher monthly spending, a trend consistent with the 2024 study. The report clarified that spending on beauty products was excluded from this specific spending analysis, while expenditures on games were included.
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