High demand from foreign tourists and locals with diversified tastes continue to lift the sales of cosmetics in South Korea.

Total sales reportedly increased by 9.6 per cent to 10.82 trillion won (US$9.6 billion) last year.

The Korea Cosmetics Association reports that exports of cosmetics grew 28.4 per cent on average annually from 2006 to 2010 which was attributed from Korean Wave or hallyu defined as the spread of South Korean culture around the world.

Last year, Korea exported cosmetics worth more than US$100 million to Japan which is the epicenter of hallyu aside from China. Cosmetics spending of Japanese tourists in Korea also reported to be worth an estimated hundreds of millions of dollars.

“The cosmetics companies do not keep count of the purchases by foreigners, but they have all opened brand stores in Myeong-dong and duty-free shops where a lot of tourists visit,” said an industry official.

Cosmetic maker AmorePacific Group posted a net profit increase of 14.3 per cent to 376.1 billion won (US$335.1 million) last year, which is higher than 2010’s net profit of 329 billion won (US$292.48 million).

Cosmetics imports also showed continuous buoyant growth of 10 per cent annually since 2006 fueled by Korean’s diversified tastes.

Due to high demand both locally and abroad, annual average production rate of cosmetics also jumped to 10.9 per cent since 2006.

GB