K-pop album exports top US$300 mln in 2025 for 1st time

▲ A customer browses albums at a record shop in Seoul, in this undated file photo. (Yonhap)

▲ This composite photo from BigHit Music and YG Entertainment shows K-pop groups BTS (L) and BLACKPINK. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

pop albums-exports

K-pop album exports top US$300 mln in 2025 for 1st time

SEOUL, Jan. 16 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's exports of K-pop albums exceeded US$300 million for the first time last year, customs data showed Friday, underscoring the genre's continued strength overseas despite weakening domestic sales.

According to the Korea Customs Service, overseas shipments of K-pop albums reached a record high of US$301.7 million in 2025, up 3.4 percent from a year earlier.

Japan remained the biggest market with US$80.6 million, followed by China with US$69.7 million and the United States with US$64 million.

While exports to Japan fell 10.2 percent from the previous year, shipments to China jumped 16.6 percent, allowing Beijing to reclaim its position as the No. 2 market for the first time since 2022, ahead of the U.S.

Taiwan, Germany, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Canada, France and Poland were also among the top 10 importers of K-pop albums.

Despite the record export value, data from music sales tracker Circle Chart showed that overall K-pop album sales, including both domestic and overseas markets, fell for a second consecutive year to around 93.5 million copies in 2025, down from about 120 million in 2023.

Analysts attributed the decline to a sluggish home market, even as demand abroad continued to expand.

"K-pop maintained its global appeal last year, helped by titles such as the soundtrack of 'KPop Demon Hunters,' but the local market was dampened by environmental concerns over plastic CDs and a pullback in fan-targeted marketing," said Choi Kwang-ho, secretary-general of the Korea Music Content Association.

"With such a small home market, the gap between artists successful in the United States or Japan and those who are not seems to be widening."

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