Korean Cosmetics Industry Statistics: 2025 Production
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Bottom line: Korea’s official cosmetics industry statistics put 2025 domestic production at KRW 17.94 trillion (17,938.2 billion won), up 2.3% on 2024 and the highest on record; skincare made up 57.5% of it and functional cosmetics 40.0%.
The tables below reproduce the attachments to the official statistics release on 2025 cosmetics production, exports and imports, published by Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) on 22 May 2026.
Korean cosmetics production by year, 2015–2025
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| Year | Production (KRW 100 million) | Change | Companies reporting | Products |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 107,328 | +19.7% | 3,840 | 105,318 |
| 2016 | 130,514 | +21.6% | 4,961 | 119,051 |
| 2017 | 135,155 | +3.6% | 5,829 | 125,766 |
| 2018 | 155,028 | +14.7% | 6,487 | 124,560 |
| 2019 | 162,633 | +4.9% | 7,580 | 119,443 |
| 2020 | 151,618 | -6.8% | 8,942 | 120,192 |
| 2021 | 166,533 | +9.8% | 9,359 | 120,044 |
| 2022 | 135,908 | -18.4% | 10,119 | 124,005 |
| 2023 | 145,102 | +6.8% | 11,861 | 127,956 |
| 2024 | 175,426 | +20.9% | 13,976 | 138,236 |
| 2025 | 179,382 | +2.3% | 15,342 | 145,360 |
KRW trillion (MFDS cosmetics production results)
Cosmetics production value · Korea, 2015–2025 · Source: MFDS, cosmetics production, export and import statistics, released 2026-05-22 · ACCESSED 2026-10-16 · KRW trillion
Production by type and functional products, 2025
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| Category | 2024 (KRW 100 million) | 2025 (KRW 100 million) | 2025 share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skincare (basic) products | 102,961 | 103,177 | 57.5% |
| Make-up (colour) products | 26,755 | 28,378 | 15.8% |
| Body cleansing products | 20,770 | 21,416 | 11.9% |
| Hair products | 15,280 | 16,642 | 9.3% |
| Eye make-up products | 3,587 | 3,530 | 2.0% |
| Hair dye products | 2,837 | 2,702 | 1.5% |
| Functional cosmetics, total | 73,515 | 71,816 | 40.0% |
| of which multi-functional | 32,231 | 34,888 | 19.4% |
| of which wrinkle improvement | 25,593 | 20,037 | 11.2% |
| of which UV protection | 4,299 | 4,703 | 2.6% |
| of which whitening | 3,787 | 4,154 | 2.3% |
Definitions, sources and access date
- Scope: MFDS attachment tables 2 (production by year), 3 (production by type) and 7 (functional cosmetics). Production is the value reported by responsible sellers (the companies that place products on the market); the company count is the number of responsible sellers that reported production.
- The type table shows the six largest types; the other seven types together came to KRW 353.6 billion in 2025, about 2%. Functional cosmetics are a separate, overlapping classification, so they are not added to the type totals.
- The chart shows KRW trillion, rounded from the KRW 100 million figures.
- Source: MFDS press release, 22 May 2026: https://www.mfds.go.kr/brd/m_99/view.do?seq=50010
- Data accessed: 16 October 2026
What the numbers say
A new high. Production fell 18.4% in 2022, then rose 6.8% in 2023 and 20.9% in 2024, passing the 2021 level of KRW 16.65 trillion. In 2025 it set another record at KRW 17.94 trillion.
Four times as many companies. The number of companies reporting production rose from 3,840 in 2015 to 15,342 in 2025, far faster than production value, which grew about 1.7 times.
Average production per company therefore fell from about KRW 2.79 billion to about KRW 1.17 billion (production divided by companies). For buyers that means more choice, and a greater need to check who you are buying from.
Skincare leads. Skincare accounts for 57.5% of production, followed by make-up (15.8%) and body cleansing (11.9%). MFDS notes that packs and masks posted the fastest growth within skincare, at 28.3%.
Functional products dipped slightly. Functional cosmetics fell 2.3% in value but still made up 40.0% of production. Whitening (+9.7%), UV protection (+9.4%) and multi-functional products (+8.2%) grew, while wrinkle-improvement products fell from KRW 2.56 trillion to KRW 2.00 trillion.
Production is the value of goods made in Korea. It is not the same as retail sales or the domestic market size, and part of it is exported.
Related reading: Number of Korean cosmetics companies · Korean cosmetics exports by country · Skincare vs make-up export share
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