By Kim Hayeon 

Hallyu (Korean Wave) has emerged as pop content that people of all ages enjoy. 

In a report on Hallyu's "ripple effects" last year, the Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange (KOFICE) said exports derived from Korean content's popularity hit USD 11.69 billion (KRW 14.83 trillion) in 2021.

This was up 1.5% or KRW 200 billion from 2020.  

Hallyu-driven exports of consumer products rose 19.2% to lead the overall increase. Those of cultural content, however, declined 7.2% due to the base effect of the huge export spike in 2020 caused by the global boom in the Korean Wave.

The research also found that K-pop sensation BTS and the smash Netflix series "Squid Game" heavily influenced the wider spread of Hallyu in countries where Korean content is comparatively not as popular like the U.S., the U.K., Australia and South Africa.

To back its findings on Hallyu's influence, the report classified 18 countries in three categories: "little interest," "spreading" and "popularization." Six states were categorized as popularization -- Vietnam, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand and China -- or three more than last year, and the remaining 12 fell under spreading. No country was listed under "little interest."

"The even rise of Hallyu in countries with high levels of popularity and those where it's not so popular is truly an encouraging result," said Choi Kyung-hee, director of KOFICE's research team. "Efforts to secure channels to deliver Hallyu content to consumers abroad are pivotal."

The report was based on a survey of 8,500 consumers of Hallyu content in 18 countries, indexes on 16 types of cultural content, consumer goods and tourism exports, and the effects of Hallyu consumption behavior and exports. 

More information on the report is available on the KOFICE website: www.kofice.or.kr.

hayeounk8@korea.kr