A buyer browses albums at a report store in Seoul, Dec. 19, 2023. Yonhap
Korea’s exports of Ok-pop albums exceeded $300 million for the primary time final yr, customs knowledge confirmed Friday, underscoring the style’s continued power abroad regardless of weakening home gross sales.
Based on the Korea Customs Service, abroad shipments of Ok-pop albums reached a report excessive of $301.7 million in 2025, up 3.4 p.c from a yr earlier.
Japan remained the largest market with $80.6 million, adopted by China with $69.7 million and the USA with $64 million.
Whereas exports to Japan fell 10.2 p.c from the earlier yr, shipments to China jumped 16.6 p.c, permitting Beijing to reclaim its place because the No. 2 marketplace for the primary time since 2022, forward of the U.S.
Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Canada, France and Poland have been additionally among the many prime 10 importers of Ok-pop albums.
Regardless of the report export worth, knowledge from music gross sales tracker Circle Chart confirmed that total Ok-pop album gross sales, together with each home and abroad markets, fell for a second consecutive yr to round 93.5 million copies in 2025, down from about 120 million in 2023.
Analysts attributed the decline to a sluggish house market, whilst demand overseas continued to broaden.
“Ok-pop maintained its international attraction final yr, helped by titles such because the soundtrack of ‘KPop Demon Hunters,’ however the native market was dampened by environmental issues over plastic CDs and a pullback in fan-targeted advertising and marketing,” stated Choi Kwang-ho, secretary-general of the Korea Music Content material Affiliation.
“With such a small house market, the hole between artists profitable in the USA or Japan and people who aren’t appears to be widening.”
