K-Beauty Goes Global: Sales Surge 53% as Korean Innovation Reshapes Beauty Growth

NIQ (NYSE: NIQ), a global leader in consumer intelligence, today released new findings showing K-Beauty has become a rapidly growing global beauty segment, with value sales up 53% year-over-year and 131% over the past two years. The data points to a broader shift in beauty growth, as regional innovation, social commerce and digitally driven consumer demand increasingly shape what scales globally.

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In its latest report, K-Beauty Goes Global, NIQ shows how Korean beauty is reshaping consumer expectations, accelerating innovation cycles and redefining competitive dynamics across the global beauty market. What began as a culturally driven trend now offers a broader signal about the future of beauty: regional trends are increasingly driving global opportunity, and brands need timely intelligence to know which signals will scale next.

Key findings

• Global growth: K-Beauty value sales rose 53% year-over-year and 131% over two years, underscoring rapid international expansion.
• Social commerce acceleration: According to data published by TikTok Shop, searches for K-Beauty on the platform increased by 125% in the UK in 2025. Across the UK, US, Spain, and Germany, value sales for K-Beauty brands on TikTok Shop rose by 430% year-over-year, highlighting the role of discovery-to-purchase platforms.
• Latin America: Brazil and Mexico delivered 135% value growth, signaling emerging momentum in the region.
• North America: E-commerce represents 76% of K-Beauty sales, with Canada reaching $164 million in 2025, up 57% year-over-year.
• Western Europe: Value growth reached 58% year-over-year. Korean brands now account for around 10% of European online skincare sales, rising to 15–20% in leading markets including Italy, Spain and France.

K-Beauty’s rise reflects a broader change in how beauty growth is created and scaled. Formats such as sheet masks, acne patches, essences, serums and ampoules have moved from niche routines into everyday habits, while ingredient-led innovation including snail mucin, centella asiatica and PDRN illustrates how some Korean beauty concepts have expanded beyond specialist audiences. At the same time, K-Beauty is raising the bar for affordable, high-performance products, faster innovation cycles and commerce models that connect discovery to purchase more seamlessly.

“K-Beauty has moved beyond trend status to become one of the clearest examples of how regional beauty innovation can translate into global growth,” said Tara James Taylor, SVP, Global Beauty Personal Care Vertical, NIQ. “Its success is built on speed, cultural relevance and the ability to turn innovation into everyday habits. More importantly, it shows how beauty brands now need to read emerging regional signals earlier, understand how consumer demand is shifting, and act faster across markets. The next phase of growth will come from expansion into adjacent categories such as wellness and haircare, and from scaling across high-growth regions like Latin America and the Middle East.”

NIQ’s analysis also points to continued momentum across APAC outside Korea and China, where K-Beauty grew 27%. In the Middle East, K-Beauty e-commerce growth reached 76%, reinforcing the role of digitally engaged consumers and high-interest markets in shaping the category’s next phase of expansion.

For brands, the takeaway goes beyond K-Beauty itself. The category offers one example of how global beauty trends are evolving: innovation is becoming more regionally driven, commerce is becoming more content-led, and the brands best positioned to win will be those that can turn early market signals into commercial action.

More info on the report: K-Beauty Goes Global - NIQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is NIQ reporting on K-Beauty?
A: NIQ's latest report, K-Beauty Goes Global, finds that Korean beauty has become a rapidly growing global beauty segment, with value sales up 53% year-over-year and 131% over two years. The report shows how regional beauty innovation, social commerce and digitally driven consumer demand are increasingly shaping global beauty growth.

Q: How fast is K-Beauty growing globally?
A: Global K-Beauty value sales rose 53% year-over-year and 131% over the past two years, reflecting rapid international expansion well beyond Korea.

Q: What role does social commerce play in K-Beauty's growth?
A: Social commerce is a major driver of discovery and conversion. According to TikTok Shop’s own published data searches for K-Beauty on TikTok Shop rose 125% in the UK 2025, while K-Beauty brand value sales on TikTok Shop grew 430% year-over-year in the US, UK, Spain and Germany.

Q: Which regions are driving K-Beauty growth?
A: Growth is broad-based. In Europe, K-Beauty value sales rose 58% year-over-year, with Korean brands now representing around 10% of online skincare sales and 15–20% in leading markets including Italy, Spain and France. Brazil and Mexico posted 135% value growth. In North America, e-commerce accounts for 76% of K-Beauty sales, and Canada reached $164 million in 2025, up 57% year on year. Across APAC excluding Korea and China, K-Beauty grew 27%.

Q: Why does K-Beauty matter beyond Korea?
A: K-Beauty is a proof point for where global beauty is heading. It shows how regional innovation now scales globally through social commerce, ingredient-led products and digitally connected consumer communities—signaling that brands need timely intelligence to identify which regional trends will scale next.

Q: What is fueling K-Beauty's global adoption?
A: Formats such as sheet masks, acne patches, essences, serums and ampoules have moved from niche routines into everyday habits, while ingredient-led innovation such as snail mucin, centella asiatica and PDRN travels quickly from specialist use into mainstream demand. K-Beauty is also raising the bar for affordable, high-performance products and faster innovation cycles.

Q: Where is K-Beauty headed next?
A: The report identifies adjacent categories and regions to watch, such as wellness and haircare, and from scaling across high-growth regions including Latin America and the Middle East, where K-Beauty e-commerce grew 76%.

Q: What does this mean for beauty brands and retailers?
A: The brands best positioned to win will be those that can read emerging regional signals earlier, understand how consumer demand is shifting, and act faster across markets—turning early market intelligence into commercial action.

Q: What is the source of these figures?
A: All figures are from NIQ's K-Beauty Goes Global report (2026), based on NIQ retail measurement and consumer intelligence data, with social commerce metrics drawn from TikTok Shop performance data cited in the report.

About NIQ
NielsenIQ (NYSE: NIQ) is a leading consumer intelligence company, delivering the most complete and trusted understanding of consumer buying behavior and revealing new pathways to growth. By combining an unmatched global data footprint and granular consumer and retail measurement with decades of AI modeling expertise, NIQ builds decision systems that help companies turn complex data into confident action.

With operations in more than 90 countries, NIQ covers approximately 82% of the world’s population and more than $7.4 trillion in global consumer spend. Through cloud-based platforms, advanced analytics and AI-driven insights, NIQ delivers The Full View™—helping brands and retailers understand what consumers buy, why they buy it, and what to do next.

For more information, please visit www.niq.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements about anticipated market developments, category expansion and future growth opportunities. These statements are based on current expectations and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date made and NIQ undertakes no obligation to update them except as required by law.

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