K-Pop’s Global Consumption Landscape Reshaped···Rapid Growth in the U.S. and Expansion Across the West

The K-Pop Radar, a comprehensive dashboard for K-Pop artists operated by music startup SpaceAudity, released its “2025 K-Pop World Map,” which analyzes global K-Pop trends for 2025. This analysis was conducted by tallying view counts of relevant videos on YouTube’s Artist Chart from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

**Strong Consumption Focused on South Korea, Rapid Growth in the U.S. and West** According to the 2025 country-by-country K-Pop consumption analysis, South Korea, Japan, and Indonesia retained positions 1 through 3, identical to the previous year. Notably, South Korea, as the birthplace of K-Pop, demonstrated further growth by increasing its share compared to 2024.

The U.S. rose from 5th to 4th place, accounting for 6.25% of global K-Pop consumption. The approximately 1 percentage point increase in its share indicates that localization strategies and global collaborations are yielding tangible results.

Japan continued to hold position 2, but its share declined from 8.44% to 7.41%, with absolute view counts also falling, suggesting the market has entered a mature phase. Taiwan made it into the top 10 K-Pop consumption countries by rising in rank for two consecutive years and reaching 9th place, while the U.K. surged to 17th place, moving out of the top 20.

**Return of Major Artists and Rise of Solo Stars** The domestic K-Pop market in 2025 showed dynamic trends driven by the return of established powerhouses and legendary artists. DAY6 moved up from 2nd to 1st place, while aespa and IU ranked 2nd and 3rd, respectively.

G-Dragon topped the list in terms of growth rate with approximately 200 million additional views, placing him 5th overall. BIGBANG also secured 4th place overall, effectively rallying domestic fans. The rise of solo artists was equally prominent. Wooz ranked 11th overall and 2nd in growth rate with approximately 160 million additional views, while Jennie reached 12th place overall and 3rd in growth rate, proving the strength of her personal brand.

In the U.S. market, Stray Kids maintained position 1 with a 8.63% share. KATSEYE ranked 3rd overall after achieving 1st place in growth rate with approximately 260 million additional views. In the U.K., Rosé claimed both 1st place overall and 1st place in growth rate with an overwhelming 11.63% share.