K-Pop Remains Korea’s Top Overseas Image for 8 Consecutive Years; BTS Claims 7th Straight No. 1 as Favorite Artist

According to the “2025 Overseas Hallyu Survey” (based on 2024 data) released on the 7th by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea International Cultural Exchange Promotion Agency, K-Pop has been selected as Korea’s representative image abroad for 8 consecutive years since 2017. Among respondents, 17.8% cited K-Pop first when thinking of Korea, followed by Korean cuisine (11.8%), dramas (8.7%), beauty products (6.4%), and movies (5.6%). In particular, IT products and brands dropped to 6th place with 5.1%, exiting the top five for the first time since 2012. In the artist category, BTS topped the list for 7th straight years with 24.6% of the vote. BLACKPINK ranked second for 6 consecutive years with 12.3% of the vote, followed by IU (3.1%), Psy (2.2%), and TWICE (1.8%). Individual members such as BTS’s Jung Kook (1.8%) and BLACKPINK’s Lisa (1.7%) also made it into the top 10. This survey was conducted from November 29 to December 27 of last year among 26,400 people who had experienced Hallyu content in 28 countries, including the Philippines and Hong Kong for the first time. The sample size per region was increased from 700–1,600 to 700–2,100. Overall satisfaction with Hallyu content rose to 70.3%, up 1.5 percentage points from the previous year. The “Korean language” category, included for the first time in this survey, had a satisfaction rate of 75.4%, exceeding the average. Regionally, the Philippines led with 88.9%, followed by Indonesia (86.5%), India (84.5%), and Thailand (82.7%), all maintaining high satisfaction levels. Hallyu content consumers also increased their spending and time spent on cultural content significantly. The average monthly time per person spent on Korean cultural content was 14 hours, up 2.3 hours from the previous year. By content type, dramas required the most time at 17.5 hours, followed by variety shows at 17 hours. People in their 20s spent 15.3 hours on average, 1–2 hours more per month than other age groups. By country, the Philippines had the longest consumption time at 24 hours, followed by Thailand (20.1 hours) and the United Arab Emirates (19.2 hours). The average monthly spending was $15.4 (approximately 23,000 won), up 46% from $10.5 in 2023. By content type, spending was highest on Korean language courses ($31.7), fashion ($31.2), beauty products ($27.9), and food ($23.2), with increases observed across all categories. Popular existing dramas and movies continued to dominate. Netflix’s “Squid Game” remained the top favorite drama for 4th consecutive years with 9.7% of the vote, rising 0.7 percentage points from the previous year ahead of its second season release. “The Queen of Tears” (6.5%) and “Love Descends” (2.2%) followed, but 2024’s new releases “Running Away with Sunjae” (1.8%) and “Judge from Hell” (1.7%) also entered the rankings. In the movie category, Bong Joon-ho’s “Parasite” retained its No. 1 position for 5th consecutive years with 8.3% of the vote, while “Busan Express” also maintained popularity. 2024’s new film “Paemyo” entered the rankings with 4.1%, especially gaining traction in culturally close Asia-Pacific regions at 5.9%. In the actor category, Lee Min-ho topped the list for 12 consecutive years since 2014 with 7.0% of the vote, while Gong Yoo and Song Hye-kyo tied for second place at 2.4% each. Rankings also rose for the lead actors of 2024’s hit dramas, Kim Soo-hyun (2.3%) and Ma Dong-seok (1.5%). Among Hallyu content consumers, 68.2% said they were willing to recommend Korean cultural content to others. By category, willingness was highest for Korean language courses (78.5%), variety shows (75.9%), games (75.9%), dramas (75.4%), and beauty products (75.4%). However, negative perceptions of Hallyu also increased. 37.5% of respondents agreed with negative aspects of Hallyu, a rise of 4.9 percentage points from the previous year. Regionally, negative perceptions were highest in India (52.7%) and the United Arab Emirates (52%). Hallyu’s impact on consumer behavior was evident as well. 58.9% of Hallyu content consumers said they intended to purchase Korean products and services in the future. By product type, food had the highest preference at 66.2%, followed by cosmetics (57.1%) and home appliances (55.3%). For services, interest was high in Korean tourism (64.1%) and dining out (64%). The percentage of people citing products featured in movies or shows as a reason to purchase rose to 22.1%, up 5 percentage points from 17.1% the previous year. This tendency was particularly strong in Thailand (33.1%), India (31.1%), and the United Arab Emirates (27.5%).