UK is second-fastest region for Hallyu growth worldwide

In the ‘2022 Global Hallyu Status’ report published by the Korea Foundation, Europe takes first place amongst regions with the most demonstrative growth of Hallyu appreciation. (‘Hallyu’ translates to ‘Korean wave’, in this instance indicating the popularity of Korean culture.)

From 2021 to 2022, Europe experienced 37% year-on-year growth, accounting for 7.4% of Hallyu fans worldwide.

In total, there are now 13.2 million Hallyu fans across Europe, putting it with Asia’s second- and third-largest markets for K-Culture, Thailand (16.8m) and Vietnam (13.3m).

The Korea Foundation also reports that the UK saw the second-largest expansion of Hallyu popularity globally, only second to the US — and only by two percentage points.

K-Pop, K-Beauty, and Korean television & film are the top sectors driving this growth within the UK. K-Pop alone has experienced a 300% increase in listenership in the last three years, according to Spotify, the dominant commercial streaming platform in the UK.

This isn’t a stat to be taken lightly, when you consider that UK fans spend on average 132% more per month on K-Pop-related consumption compared to the rest of the world.

The ‘2022 Global Hallyu Status’ report can be read in full here (available in Korean only).