"Crash Landing on You" was voted the most popular Korean TV drama according to an international survey on Hallyu content. (tvN)

By Elias Molina and Yoon Sojung

Overseas consumption of Hallyu (Korean pop culture) content other than K-pop has risen despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange on Jan. 28 released the results of their joint survey on Hallyu abroad. The study found that Hallyu accounted for 21.5% of all cultural content purchased by international consumers of Koreana.

The online poll was conducted last year from September to November on 8,500 people with experiences in Korean cultural content in 18 countries: China, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Vietnam, Australia, the U.S., Brazil, Argentina, Brazil, Turkey, the U.K., France, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and South Africa.

By sector, TV dramas comprised the most consumed content with 29.7%, followed by beauty products and videos with 27.5%, TV entertainment shows with 26.9% and fashion with 24.8%.

"Crash Landing on You" was the most popular K-drama with 9.5%, followed by "It's Okay to Not Be Okay" with 4.1% and "The World of the Married" 2.8%. "Parasite" topped the film category (18.4%), followed by "Train to Busan" (10.2%) and "Peninsula" (3.5%).

For musical acts and groups, BTS claimed the top spot with 22%, BLACKPINK second with 13.5% and Psy third with 2.9%.

The top three areas that boost Hallyu overseas were Korean food (65.3 points), beauty (62.4) and music (62), with all three having a low language barrier. The survey also showed that the higher the exposure to Hallyu, the higher the buying experience rate and number of purchases of Korean products and services.

eliasmolina@korea.kr