Market Intelligence
Cosmetics and Toiletries South Korea Economic Development

South Korea Organic Beauty Market

South Korea is one of the world’s most exciting beauty markets.  New beauty trends and innovations, featuring sophisticated ingredients and aesthetically appealing packaging are constantly on display. South Korean-branded cosmetics labels (K-beauty) continue to grow in popularity, particularly within Asia. As one of the top 10 beauty markets in the world in terms of global market share, South Korea, in 2022, had a market size estimated at $3.9 billion; the total local production and total exports decreased approximately by 18.4% and 2.2% respectively from the previous year.  South Korea was the fourth largest exporter of cosmetics after France, the United States, and Germany.  Meanwhile, total imports of cosmetics went up slightly from 2021 and were valued at $1.3 billion.  On a country-by-country basis, France ($462 million) was the largest exporter to Korea in 2022, followed by the U.S. ($274 million) and Japan ($126 million).  

In March 2023, Korean government announced plans to develop technologies related to bespoke cosmetics, personalized skin diagnosis programs using IoT and big data to nurture Korean bio-health industry.  2023 Glowpick 1st Half Awards reflected that Korean consumers now place more value on such factors as health, safety, and authenticity – more emotional attachments and meaningful experiences, steering away from mass consumption which was more commonplace in past decades.  This is accelerating certain trends, including natural/organic and ‘free from’ formulations, reducing or replacing artificial ingredients with natural alternatives and there are increasing business opportunities for U.S. natural/organic cosmetics brands.  

Definition of Natural/Organic Cosmetics and Certification in South Korea  

In July 2019, the Korean Ministry of Food & Drug Safety (MFDS) implemented the Regulation on the Standards of Natural and Organic Cosmetic Products.  This regulation specified “organic” and “natural” definitions, permitted ingredients, manufacturing processes, and requirements for the business entity:  

  • Mineral sourced materials – 91 substances; 
  • Allowed pollutants – 10 substances; 
  • Allowed ‘other materials’ – 13 substances, which can be extracted from natural materials using petrochemical solvents; 
  • Synthetic preservatives and denaturants- 8 substances;  naturally sourced materials – 9 substances – containing segments of petrochemical molecules; 
  • Physical, chemical, and biological processes that are allowed, and prohibited; 
  • Materials that can be used or removing solvents; and  
  • Measuring/calculation system for natural or organic contents. 

For example, natural raw materials concentration should exceed 95% in a natural cosmetic.  Organic cosmetics, besides the 95% concentration in natural raw materials, must contain over 10% organic ingredients.  PVC and polystyrene foam cannot be used in containers and packaging of natural and organic cosmetics.   

Organic Cosmetics Market Trends  

Consumers prioritized ‘ingredients’ when purchasing organic cosmetics, followed by ‘functionality’, ‘country of origin’, ‘certification mark’, and ‘price.  Customers most trusted the marks of the relevant certification agencies (33.7%) such as National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service (Korea; 49.1%), ECOCERT (France; 12.6%), COSMEBIO (France; 10.3%), USDA (U.S.; 5.3%), and BIOSUISSE (Switzerland; 2.9%) as a criterion for judging organic cosmetics.  Among the organic cosmetics users, infants and pregnant women showed high interest in organic products.  Most of the surveyed respondents expected benefits such as moisturizing, skin regeneration, and trouble/atopic improvement when using organic products.  As for the ingredients of organic cosmetics, jojoba, aloe, lavender, shea butter, herb, honey, aloe vera, lemon, coconut grabbed Korean consumers’ interest.  Korean consumers were generally satisfied with organic cosmetics due to the safe and mild ingredients.  However, some people showed concerns about the fact that there are some tricky aspects of production selection and the short shelf life.  

Organic Cosmetics Advertisement Related Regulation 

Labeling and advertising requirements for marketing cosmetics as natural/organic are different from those for non-natural/organic cosmetics.  The product must meet the criteria indicated by the Cosmetics Labeling Advertisement Guideline in Korea.  When manufacturing, importing, and selling cosmetics by claiming and advertising them as natural or organic cosmetics, Korean distributor/seller must provide data substantiating claims they display and/or advertise.  In addition, the distributor/seller must preserve the data for up to three years from the date of manufacture (in case of import, or customs clearance) or one year after the usage expiration.    

In December 2021, the MFDS introduced an advertisement guideline including ISO natural and organic indexes to substantiate cosmetics claims.   

  • Natural Index 00% (ISO 16128 calculation applied)  
  • Natural Origin Index 00% (ISO 16128 calculation applied) 
  • Organic Index 00% (ISO 16128 calculation applied) 
  • Organic Origin Index 00% (ISO 16128 calculation applied)  

When ISO index is marked on the front of the cosmetics product, remarks like “This product is not a natural (or organic) cosmetic according to the standards of the MFDS.” should be marked and it is recommended to indicate along with the ISO index. 

Trade Events

Cosmobeauty Seoul 2024
http://cosmobeautyseoul.com/fairDash.do?hl=ENG 
May 29-31, 2024, COEX, Seoul, Korea 

Contact

For more information, please contact our office at Office.Seoul@trade.gov.

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