Fast-paced innovation in facial skin care and make-up and highly engaged consumers drive growth of South Korea’s buoyant beauty market, estimated at just over US$13 billion in 2017. A new research from Mintel shines a spotlight on South Korea’s beauty market, the beauty trends impacting the global beauty industry and the latest innovations in textures, ingredients and product experience.
According to the market research firm, facial skincare accounts for more than half (51%) of the total market share with US$6.5 billion in retail sales and a projected 5.8% CAGR [1] over the next five years to reach US$7.2 billion by 2020. Much of the success of the facial skincare category is in part due to the abundance of new product development and the fact that more than two thirds (68%) of total skincare product launches in South Korea 2015-2016 [2] were facial skincare products, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD).
Following facial skincare, colour cosmetics makes up the second largest beauty category in the South Korean market, valued at US$2.3 billion in 2017. Mintel research indicates that the market is supported by an active and engaged consumer base with per capita spend on colour cosmetics in South Korea at US$45 in 2017, compared to US$43 in the UK and US$37 in the US [3], and more than double the global average per capita spend of US$21. With a projected CAGR of 8.1% over the next five years, the market is estimated to reach US$2.8 billion by 2020.
