2024 Global Hallyu Shows Divergent Consumption Patterns by Region

As K-pop continued to drive the Hallyu phenomenon throughout last year, there was a notable high level of interest in Korean foods such as kimchi, soju, and buldak in North America. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism released the “2024 Global Hallyu Trends Analysis Report” on the 25th. This report, prepared in collaboration with the Korea Cultural Information Service, collected and analyzed over 680,000 pieces of data from foreign news articles and social media platforms between October 2023 and September 2024. Reports on Hallyu topics were most frequent in Asia (50.6%), followed by Europe (27.5%) and North America (13.6%). India had the highest number of Hallyu-related reports, with the United States, Thailand, and Turkey ranking behind it. Consumption patterns related to Hallyu varied significantly across regions. Within Asia, K-pop accounted for 35.4% of reports on Hallyu content, with coverage primarily focused on BTS and BLACKPINK. In Europe, K-pop also made up a large share at 25.1%, with extensive coverage of K-pop artists’ chart performances. In Latin America, K-pop accounted for 34.9% of related reports, mostly covering news about Korean idols visiting the region and holding world tours. In contrast, North America, Africa, and Oceania saw the highest proportion of articles about K-food. In North America, K-food accounted for 26.7% of such articles, surpassing K-pop at 23.5%. In the United States and Canada, searches related to Korean cuisine and mentions on social media surged due to trends like buldak popularity. In Africa and Oceania, news about the opening of Korean restaurants was frequently reported. The most discussed terms related to K-food included “kimchi,” “soju,” “chicken,” “bibimbap,” and “buldak.” In particular, the term “mukbang” was consistently mentioned on social media every quarter, having established itself as a globally recognized word. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that this big data analysis holds significant value as rare overseas data for measuring the influence of Hallyu, and plans to utilize it in developing tailored Hallyu policy strategies for different countries and continents.