K-Beauty Exports Hit $11.1 Billion in Nine Months

Summary of South Korea cosmetics exports for January to September 2026, showing the $11.1 billion total and the shift from China to the United States

South Korea shipped $11.1 billion worth of cosmetics overseas in the first nine months of 2026, according to preliminary figures released on October 2 by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (식품의약품안전처, MFDS). That is a 31.1% jump from a year earlier and already 97% of the record $11.4 billion exported in all of 2025. This guide lays out what the official numbers say, which markets and product types drove them, and why the structure of Korea's contract-manufacturing industry makes this kind of growth possible.

The Numbers at a Glance

Measure	Figure	Context
Exports, January–September 2026	$11.1 billion (about 15 trillion won)	+31.1% year on year; highest ever for the first three quarters
Third quarter alone	$4.17 billion	+7.5% from the second quarter's $3.88 billion
Full-year 2025 exports	$11.4 billion	Up 11.8% from $10.2 billion in 2024
Export destinations, 2025	202 countries	Up from 172 in 2024

The release, titled "Cosmetics exports reach $11.1 billion through Q3, highest-ever cumulative figure" and published by the MFDS cosmetics policy division, is available through the KDI Economic Information Center archive. Korean outlets including Hankyung and Special Times reported the same totals. The ministry's 2025 results, published in two stages, gave the full-year base: Newsis reported the preliminary January 9 figure, and News Seoul carried the ministry's final May 2026 statistics, which put the 2025 total at $11.4 billion and Korea second in the world among cosmetics exporters, behind France.

Where the Growth Came From: The Market Shift

The country breakdown is the most striking part of the data. For years China was Korea's dominant cosmetics buyer. In 2022 it accounted for 46.7% of exports, according to MediPharm Health News's reading of the MFDS data. In January–September 2026 its share was 14.2%.

Market	2025 full year	Jan–Sep 2026	Change vs. Jan–Sep 2025
United States	$2.2 billion (first time ranked No. 1)	$2.35 billion, 21.1% of total	+40.6%
China	$2.0 billion (down 19%)	$1.58 billion, 14.2% of total	+0.4%
Japan	Not checked	$0.89 billion, 8.0% of total	+8.6%

Two details stand out. First, the United States has already surpassed its entire 2025 total in nine months. Second, China, which fell 19% in 2025, is now roughly flat rather than falling, but it no longer drives growth. Beyond the big three, Hankyung's reading of the release lists the United Kingdom (+179.3%), the Netherlands (+292.6%), and Canada (+124.4%) among the fastest-growing destinations. Treat those percentages with care: they start from far smaller bases than the US or China, so a large rate can still be a modest dollar amount. In 2025, the UAE (eighth place, +70.6%) and Poland (ninth, +115%) were the other rising destinations in the ministry's data.

Skincare Up, Makeup Down

The MFDS sorts cosmetics into statistical categories, including basic cosmetics (기초화장품, essentially skincare), color cosmetics (색조화장품, makeup), and body cleansing products (인체세정용). The nine-month split shows how concentrated the growth is.

Category	Jan–Sep 2026	Change
Basic cosmetics (skincare)	$8.72 billion, about 79% of exports	+45.1% (+$2.71 billion)
Color cosmetics (makeup)	$1.11 billion	-3.6%
Body cleansing	$0.56 billion	+30.1%

Skincare alone accounts for more growth than the whole market's net gain, because makeup shrank. The pattern holds in the US, Korea's largest market: basic cosmetics there rose from $1.21 billion to $1.80 billion (+48.8%) while makeup slipped from $230 million to $220 million (-4.3%). If you follow retail coverage, this lines up with how Korean shops such as Olive Young's K-Beauty Edit at Sephora lead with skincare, and with the sun-care category covered in our guide to Korean sunscreens.

Why Small Brands Can Export: The ODM System

A major structural reason for the boom is how Korean cosmetics are made. Many fast-growing brands do not own factories. They work with ODM (original design manufacturing) companies, contract firms that handle formulation, production, and quality control while the brand focuses on concept, marketing, and sales. The two largest, Cosmax (코스맥스) and Kolmar Korea (한국콜마), reported 2025 consolidated revenue of 2.40 trillion won and 2.72 trillion won respectively, according to a Sat Economy report on the ODM industry.

The same report cites small and mid-sized companies as the core of the export surge: about 72.5% of 2025 exports, or $8.32 billion, up 21.5%, while large-company exports fell 18.8%. It describes Anua's operator The Founders reaching 717.7 billion won in 2025 revenue without owning factories, and Cosmax serving about 5,000 clients by the first half of 2026. The ODMs have also expanded into regulatory support, helping clients prepare for overseas certification and local rules, which lets a small brand plan for the US, Japan, or Southeast Asia from the product-concept stage.

This structure also complicates the headline number. The ministry's statistics count goods that leave Korea. Cosmax and Kolmar both operate plants in the United States, China, and elsewhere, according to the same report. Products those plants make for overseas customers would not pass through Korean customs, so they would not appear in this data. The export figure therefore understates what Korean formulation companies sell abroad, and it says nothing about shelf sales at foreign retailers.

How to Read the Statistic

It is preliminary. The October 2 release gives provisional figures; the ministry's final numbers for 2025 arrived months after its first January estimate, and the growth rate shifted slightly between them (+12.3% preliminary versus +11.8% in the May final).
It measures shipments, not consumer spending. Export value counts goods leaving Korea. It does not show what shoppers paid at Sephora, Ulta, Amazon, or Olive Young.
Category definitions are government categories. "Basic cosmetics" is an MFDS statistical grouping, not a marketing term.
The ministry gave no brand-level breakdown. Neither the release nor the news reports based on it name which brands or products drove the increase.

The ministry says it will continue supporting exporters through measures such as leading international regulatory harmonization, regulator cooperation, country-specific regulatory information, and halal-certification consulting. If the 2025 pattern repeats, the full-year 2026 figure should appear in early January; the 2025 preliminary figure was published on January 9.

FAQ

How much did Korea export in cosmetics in 2026 so far?
$11.1 billion from January through September, up 31.1% from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's preliminary figures released October 2, 2026.

Which country buys the most Korean cosmetics?
The United States, with $2.35 billion in January–September 2026, or 21.1% of exports. It first became Korea's largest market in 2025. China is second at $1.58 billion, and Japan is third at $0.89 billion.

Do these numbers include products made by Korean companies overseas?
No. The statistics cover goods exported from Korea, so products made at overseas factories of Korean manufacturers would not be counted.

Verified as of October 13, 2026. All 2026 figures are provisional and cover January through September. Percentages for the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Canada are as reported by Hankyung; the base amounts were not given. Brand and ODM company figures come from a secondary report and have not been checked against company filings.