Korea, Japan, Indonesia Remain in Top 3 for K-Pop Consumption; U.S. Shows Rising Trend as Global Diversity Accelerates

The K-Pop Radar, a comprehensive dashboard for K-Pop artists operated by music startup SpaceAudity, released its “2025 K-Pop World Map” country section. This analysis is based on aggregated view counts of related videos on YouTube Artist Charts from January 1 to December 31, 2025.

According to the 2025 country-specific K-Pop consumption analysis, Korea stayed in first place, Japan in second, and Indonesia in third, maintaining the same rankings as the previous year. The U.S. rose one position to fourth place, while India dropped to fifth. Notably, Korea, the birthplace of K-Pop, demonstrated further growth by achieving an even higher share compared to 2024.

The U.S. accounted for 6.25% of global K-Pop consumption, rising from fifth to fourth place. This approximately 1 percentage point increase in share shows that localization strategies and global collaborations by Hallyu artists are yielding tangible results. In contrast, Japan retained second place but saw its share decline from 8.44% to 7.41%, along with a decrease in total view counts, indicating that the market has entered a mature phase.

Global market diversity is also evident. Taiwan entered the Top 10 by rising in rank for two consecutive years, reaching ninth place. The UK surged rapidly from outside the Top 20 to 17th place. The simultaneous entry of Western countries such as France, Germany, and Canada signifies that K-Pop consumption is advancing toward global expansion.

In the domestic market, DAY6 topped the list, followed by aespa and IU in second and third places, respectively. G-Dragon ranked fifth overall, leading in terms of increase in view counts with about 200 million additional views. BIGBANG came in fourth overall, successfully rallying strong support from the domestic audience. Solo artists also showed significant progress, with WooZoo ranking 11th overall and second in terms of increase in view counts, thanks to about 160 million additional views. Jennie finished 12th overall and third in terms of increase in view counts.

In key overseas markets, STRAY KIDS maintained first place in the U.S. with a 8.63% share. KATSEYE ranked third overall, leading in growth rate with about 260 million additional views. In the UK, Rosé held first place both overall and in terms of increase in view counts, with an overwhelming 11.63% share. KATSEYE also secured a spot in the upper ranks, confirming its competitiveness across English-speaking regions.

Taiwan became a market that entered the Top 10 after two years of continuous growth. IVE led with a 5.69% share, while the slight decline in share was attributed to traffic shifting to G-Dragon and BIGBANG.