Global Hallyu Market Trends Reveal 3 K-Pop Leaders: BTS, BLACKPINK… and the Next Big Star?

According to the latest analysis from the 2024 Global Hallyu Trend Analysis Report, K-pop remains the dominant force in the global Hallyu wave, with BTS, BLACKPINK, and NewJeans leading the charge. Meanwhile, in North America, interest in Korean food (K-Food)—particularly kimchi and buldak ramen—has surged.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (Minister Yoo In-chon) and the Korea Culture & Information Service (Director Jeong Un-hyun) compiled and analyzed 680,000 pieces of data from international news articles and social media between October 2023 and September 2024 to produce the "2024 Global Hallyu Trend Report," released on February 25.

The report reveals that K-pop is overwhelmingly the most popular Hallyu-related content worldwide, with the highest interest levels in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. However, in North America, Africa, and Oceania, Korean food outperformed K-pop in terms of media coverage and social media discussions. This trend is attributed to factors such as the designation of Kimchi Day, discussions on the health benefits of kimchi, and the viral popularity of buldak ramen.

By continent, Hallyu-related media coverage was most frequent in:

1️⃣ Asia (50.6%)

2️⃣ Europe (27.5%)

3️⃣ North America (13.6%)

Korean films and dramas also attracted significant attention worldwide. Notably, the movies Exhuma, Veteran 2, The Roundup: Punishment, and Concrete Utopia have been widely covered across multiple regions. Similarly, upcoming dramas such as Squid Game 2, The Queen of Tears, and My Lovely Runner have sparked global interest.

Country-Specific Trends in the Hallyu Wave

When analyzing Hallyu coverage by country, the top four were:

- India

- United States

- Thailand

- Turkey

India, Thailand, and the Philippines saw the highest engagement with K-pop content.

Nigeria, the U.S., and the U.K. displayed greater interest in Korean food.

Turkey had a particularly high preference for K-dramas, while China focused more on Korean films (K-Movies).

The 2024 Global Hallyu Trend Report consists of one annual report covering Q4 2023 to Q3 2024, along with four quarterly reports for more in-depth analysis.