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A visitor to a department store in Seoul browses lipstick and other cosmetic products, April 3. Yonhap By Ko Dong-hwan Korean cosmetics companies, many of which have been suffering from declining sales in China, have started to bounce back thanks to an increasing number of "K-beauty" consumers, particularly in the United States and Japan, according to industry officials, Sunday. Boosts from broader global marketplaces have added muscle to the country's cosmetic exports.

Korea Customs Service said that the local industry saw record quarterly exports of $2.3 billion during the first three months this year, a 21.7 percent year-on-year increase.



Major local companies here have released their quarterly reports, revealing that significant portions of profit came from the U.S. and Japan.

Amorepacific's operating profit during the period registered 72.7 billion won ($53.6 million), a 12.

9 percent jump from the previous year. The company said that whereas sales in China declined compared to the previous year, those in the U.S.

soared by 40 percent and Europe, the Middle East and Africa by 52 percent. The launch of a new Laneige lineup, one of the company's cosmetic labels, in the U.S.

has boosted its sales there, according to the company. LG H&H registered 1.73 trillion won in sales, up by 2.

7 percent from the previous year, and an operating profit of 151 billion won, up 3.5 percent, during the same period. The biggest amount of overseas sales came from China and Japan.

Sales in China.

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