South Korea

Headphones recorded another year of strong retail volume growth in 2022, driven by the dominant TWS earbuds category, and although demand for wireless earphones continued to fall rapidly, wireless headbands also saw a solid positive performance. The…

Within plant-based dairy in South Korea, plant-based milk was the only category with notable packaging volumes in 2023, as plant-based yoghurt and cheese are still in their early stages of development. Brick liquid cartons is the preferred pack type…

Men’s grooming maintained solid current value growth in South Korea in 2023. However, sales of premium men’s deodorants and premium men’s hair care products continued to be negligible, primarily because demand remains within the mass segment in these…

In 2022 and 2023, independent self-service cafeterias demonstrated double-digit growth in retail value sales. The primary driver behind this success was the popularity of local Korean cuisine buffets, which provide a rich variety of options, and…

After many years of growth, in 2023 toys and games in South Korea witnessed a notable current value decline, with traditional toys and games seeing only a slight fall in sales, and video games a stronger decrease. Toys and games witnessed a decrease…

In 2023, tanghulu (sugar-coated fruits on a bamboo skewer) emerged as the most prominent snacking mega-trend in the entire food industry in South Korea. The popularity of tanghulu began with mukbang YouTubers who focused on ASMR content, creating…

While reducing food waste and recycling are well-established green habits, many consumers are apathetic, believing their actions make no difference. This creates opportunities to focus on actionable sustainable claims and campaigns, highlighting…

Overall womenswear continues to post solid growth in 2023. However, both retail volume and current value growth rates are notably slower compared to the dynamic performance by womenswear in 2022. This is likely due to the fact that consumers’ pent-up…

Dermatologicals is a saturated category in South Korea and has lost some of its growth momentum in terms of retail volume sales. A lack of new product development is one factor hampering stronger growth for some products, whilst another is increasing…

Bath and shower maintained solid current value growth in South Korea in 2023, although the rate of increase slowed compared with the peak seen over 2020-2022. Clean beauty, which emphasises gentle and natural ingredients, is highly favoured by…