Korea passes the US to become the world’s No. 2 cosmetics exporter, now shipping to 202 countries
In 2025 Korea overtook the United States to become the world's second-largest cosmetics exporter. France is still No. 1.
Global cosmetics exports (2025)
- France: $24.3B
- Korea: $11.4B (+11.8%)
- United States: $10.8B
Other numbers
- The cosmetics trade surplus topped $10.1Bfor the first time,12.9% of Korea's total trade surplus
- The US became Korea's largest market for the first time ($2.2B, 19.1%); China fell 19% to $2B, now second
- Japan was third at $1.1B
- Basic skincare made up 74.7% of exports ($8.53B)
- Destinations grew from 172 to 202 countries, with Poland (+115%) and the UAE (+70.6%) standing out
The interesting part isn't the rank itself but that K-beauty now sells almost everywhere. Still, France remains more than twice as big.
What could close the gap with France: high-ticket categories like luxury and fragrance, or more skincare volume as now?
Source: Korea Biomedical Review — Korea overtakes US to become world’s No. 2 cosmetics exporter
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