The Korea Customs Service on March 14 said exports of soju (clear liquor) last year rose 3.9% from 2023 to eclipse USD 200 million for the first time. (Korea.net DB)

By Margareth Theresia

Riding the global popularity wave of Korean brands, the clear liquor soju saw exports last year eclipse USD 200 million for the first time.

The Korea Customs Service on March 14 said overseas shipments of the drink last year rose 3.9% from 2023.

In January and February this year, such exports including those of regular and fruit flavors rose 0.5%.

The customs authority said export volume rose due to growing interest in high-quality domestic drinks thanks to the global spread of Hallyu (Korean Wave) and trend toward beverages with lower alcohol content.

By weight, last year's exports rose 4.2% to a record-high 124,000 tons. By flavor, regular soju (51.9%) edged fruity (48.1%).

With mild and diversified flavors, fruit-flavored soju showed conspicuous growth with record-high exports of USD 96 million.

Among soju's 95 markets, the top three were the U.S. (24.3%), China (19.9%) and Japan (19.2%). Mostly exported to Japan in the past, the drink saw market diversification to a record-high 46 countries including the U.S. and China.

margareth@korea.kr