23/10/2026
K-beauty has become a global success. In 2025, South Korea exported USD 11.4 billion of cosmetics to 202 markets, becoming the world's second-largest cosmetics exporter.
Behind this success is a connected ecosystem. Demand creation, industrialized production and retail validation reinforce one another. Consumer feedback shapes what comes next, helping brands innovate and scale rapidly.
Korean ODM expertise is now more accessible to global competitors, and successful product ideas are quickly replicated. Production expertise and novelty alone offer less differentiation. Sustaining growth overseas requires the same reinforcing cycle that supports Korean brands at home.
Yet overseas expansion can stretch this system, creating two disconnects:
◾ Market access → sustained market development: Getting onto shelves does not guarantee continued marketing, stock and retail support. Partners may have different priorities and incentives for investing in the brand.
◾ Local market evidence → business decisions: Feedback spread across partners may leave brands with sales figures but insufficient context to guide product, marketing and investment decisions.
K-beauty has taken its products global. The next task is to keep market development and learning connected as it grows.
◾ Brands must determine what to control, where partners add value, and how to align economics with partners for sustained market development.
◾ Distributors need capabilities that remain valuable as their portfolios change.
◾ Investors should look beyond sales growth to repeat demand, sustainable economics and accumulated market knowledge.
Ultimately, every international sale should generate revenue and strengthen the system behind the next one.
Read the full Insights article, "K-beauty went global, and its system must follow", available at https://zurl.co/ahj8C
For further discussion on this topic, feel free to reach out to our subject matter experts Weike Liang , Holim Wang , and Per Stenius