South Korea’s food exports hit a record high in the first nine months of this year, driven by strong global appetite for the country’s spicy instant noodles and seasoned dried seaweed.
According to data from the Korea Customs Service on Tuesday, exports of Korean food products totaled $8.48 billion between January and September, up 8.9% from the same period of last year and the highest figure ever recorded for the period.
It marks the ninth consecutive annual increase in the country’s food exports since 2016, when shipments totaled $6.06 billion.
Processed foods accounted for 61.3% of total food exports, reaching $5.2 billion, up 6.7% from a year ago.
Instant noodles, or ramen, led the gains with a 24.5% surge to $1.13 billion, while exports of roasted seaweed, known as gim, climbed 14% to $880 million.
The Korea Customs Service said it expects K-food exports to continue setting new highs through next year, supported by rising global awareness of Korean culture.
The agency cited the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Gyeongju, set for later this week, as one of the events likely to draw global attention to South Korea again, along with the international popularity of recent cultural exports such as the hit Netflix series KPop Demon Hunters.
The United States, China and Japan were the top three destinations for Korean food exports through September, accounting for 50.2% of total shipments.
Exports to the US rose 13.1% to $1.6 billion, while shipments to China increased 12.5% to $1.5 billion and those to Japan grew 6.7% to $1.16 billion.
The government plans to bolster exporters through logistics support and overseas marketing programs to sustain the K-food momentum into 2025.
