K-Beauty Exports to South America Quadruple in Four Years, Emerging as a New Growth Platform

Eco-Friendly, Short-Form Content, and Unique Ingredients:
Tailored Strategies for Expanding in the South American Market

There is an analysis indicating that K-beauty is rapidly expanding its presence in the South American market.

The International Trade & Commerce Research Institute of the Korea International Trade Association announced on November 24 that, according to its report "Analysis of the South American Beauty Import Market and Strategies for Local Expansion," the size of South America's beauty product imports in 2024 was estimated at 4.13 billion US dollars.

Since 2021, the annual average growth rate has been 4.7%. By product category, cosmetics accounted for the largest share at 34.9%. Perfume represented 23.1%, while hair care products made up 19.4%.

South American exports of Korean beauty products are also on the rise. The export value, which was 15.3 million US dollars in 2020, increased more than fourfold to 70.2 million US dollars in 2024. Within the overall South American beauty import market, Korea's ranking rose from 17th to 13th during the same period. Its market share also expanded from 0.7% to 1.6%.

Cosmetics accounted for over 90% of all Korean exports. Hair care products such as shampoo and conditioner represented about 6.5%. By country, Brazil had the highest share at 45.0%, followed by Chile at 23.2%, Colombia at 9.4%, and Peru at 8.0%.

The report suggested that, to further expand K-beauty's entry into the South American market, a segmented approach that takes into account local consumer characteristics is necessary. In the cosmetics sector, it is important to strengthen a value-driven strategy that emphasizes eco-friendliness and sustainability, beyond just performance-based strategies.

For hair care and toothpaste products, the report analyzed that short-form promotional content is effective in increasing brand awareness due to the highly competitive market. In the perfume category, it recommended targeting niche demand by using ingredients that reflect regional characteristics, such as coffee and coconut.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.