Culture Ministry Releases 2025 Global Hallyu Survey
According to the “2025 Overseas Hallyu Survey,” released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Foundation for International Cultural Exchange on the 7th, 7 out of 10 people are willing to recommend Korean culture. For the eighth consecutive year, those who have experienced Korean content abroad most frequently associate “K-Pop” with Korea. BTS has been the most popular K-Pop group for seven years in a row.
The survey, conducted among 26,400 people in 26 countries, added the Philippines and Hong Kong as new regions. The findings show that 17.8% of respondents think of K-Pop when they hear “Korea,” followed by Korean cuisine (11.8%), dramas (8.7%), beauty (6.4%), and films (5.6%). IT products/brands dropped out of the top five for the first time since 2012, landing in sixth place.
When asked about their willingness to recommend Korean cultural content, 68.2% expressed their intent to do so. The most recommended areas included the Korean language (78.5%), variety shows (75.9%), games (75.9%), dramas (75.4%), and beauty (75.4%).
Despite the positive perception of Korean culture, negative sentiments have also grown, with 37.5% agreeing with negative perceptions of Hallyu, a 4.9 percentage point increase from the previous year.
The average monthly consumption time of Korean content per individual was found to be 14 hours, an increase of 2.3 hours compared to the previous year. Dramas and variety shows had the longest consumption times, averaging 17.5 and 17 hours, respectively. “Squid Game” remains the most popular drama at 9.7%, followed by “The Queen of Tears” at 6.5%, and “Crash Landing on You” at 2.2%, maintaining its top status for five years. For movies, “Parasite” topped the list for five consecutive years with an 8.3% preference rate.
The intent to purchase Korean products or services was reported by 58.9% of respondents, a 14.8 percentage point increase from 2020. The most preferred products were food (66.2%), followed by cosmetics (57.1%), and home appliances (55.3%).
Based on this survey, the Ministry plans to promote the Hallyu industry and related sectors further. This includes implementing a basic law for Hallyu industry promotion and introducing regulations to support it legally. Moreover, they plan to conduct three global Hallyu exhibitions to enhance the impact of related industries and are setting up a permanent foreign publicity center in Dubai to regularly promote Korean culture.