South Korea

During the pandemic, South Korean consumers became more conscious of the need for healthy hydration and the reduction of sugar consumption. This led to dynamic growth for natural bottled water and “water-like” natural RTD tea. Although decline was…

Increasing media coverage about high consumption of sugar, fat and salt raising the chances of conditions such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and even cancer, has increased demand for products low in these ingredients. Concerns about…

In 2022, health and wellness hot drinks in Korea saw a trend towards consumers looking to reduce potentially harmful ingredients, rather than adding extra benefits. This led to growing consumer demand for better for you products, such as low/no sugar…

Dairy products are already known to be nutritious, as a natural source of calcium and protein, and also probiotics for yoghurt; however, innovation has continued to increase the health and wellness options available, in line with heightened interest…

Although products low in sugar are becoming more noticeable in cooking ingredients and meals, product innovation has so far been less proactive than in other packaged food categories, and consumers’ attention has not yet been captured. However, South…

South Korea is expected to experience a moderate increase in the number of households over 2022-2027, with single-person households continuing to dominate. In 2022, household spending was impacted by a 5.1% inflation rate, leading to higher living…

While instant coffee continued to decline, the desire for better-quality coffee is helping to continue to drive sales of fresh ground coffee pods, which are therefore becoming an increasing area of focus for coffee companies. Even after coffee pods…

Hot drinks is set to see decline in retail volume terms and a stagnant performance in retail current value terms in 2023. Tea is set to see the best performance, maintaining current value growth, while coffee is set to see stagnancy due to the…

With the lifting of the mask mandate in 2023 amid the waning impact of COVID-19 in South Korea, local consumer are enjoying outdoor activities, including participating in sports, without restrictions. In particular, demand for non-sheer hosiery has…

In 2023, homewares in South Korea maintained a current value decline, although this was mainly due to normalisation after a peak in sales during the pandemic in 2020, and sales remained far above the pre-pandemic level. Dinnerware continued to see…

After two years of strong retail volume growth in 2020 and 2021 in a pandemic-fuelled surge, sales of televisions declined in 2022, and this is set to continue in 2023, as consumer demand was brought forward and demand is now waning as replacements…

Home products specialists maintained its decline in outlet numbers in South Korea in 2023, but returned to low growth in current value terms. Homewares and home furnishings stores saw the slowest value growth rate in 2023. This channel faced…

Demand for home laundry appliances is growing in 2023 following a marginal dip in retail volume sales the previous year. The category’s performance is mainly attributed to a significant increase in demand for automatic dryers, while retail volume…

Home insecticides experienced a decline in volume sales in 2023, as demand for such products weakened, partly due to the perception that they use harsh chemicals. Despite this, South Korea witnessed an increase in mosquito populations, as there was…

Home improvement in South Korea maintained dynamic current value growth in 2023, with a double-digit increase, maintaining the trend seen for the previous two years. Bathroom and sanitaryware maintained strong growth in home improvement in 2023, due…

Home furnishings in Korea saw another year of current value decline in 2023, although this was slower than in the previous year. However, not all categories saw a declining trend; for instance, barbecues witnessed solid value growth in 2023. This was…

In spite of the slight growth spikes seen in home care packaging in 2020 and 2021 as a result of home seclusion and heightened health awareness due to the COVID-19 virus, this industry’s unit volumes continued to grow in 2022. Growth was slightly…