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South Korea exported around * million U.S. dollars worth of Kimchi in 2024, increased from around million U.S. dollars in the previous year. Thanks to its growing popularity, Kimchi exports from South Korea have steadily increased in recent years. Particularly, Japan and the United States were the leading destinations of Kimchi exports from South Korea.

Growth of Kimchi sales

Exports of Kimchi have grown for the past several years, reaching a ten-year peak of over *** million dollars in value and over * metric tons in volume in 2024. This is more than twice the value of Kimchi exports in 2015, and exportskeep increasing. Some reasons for the popularity of Kimchi is the popularity of K-pop and other Korean media, and Kimchi’s reputation as a nutritious and fat-free food. The latter might be of particular interest to foreigners amid the ongoing global pandemic.

South Korean Kimchi market

Kimchi is a traditional Korean side dish of salted and fermented vegetables; typically cabbages or Korean radishes. Kimchi accompanies many dishes as a ubiquitous side dish and is included in other traditional Korean dishes. In 2019, the market for Kimchi in Korea reached around **** trillion South Korean won. Daesang was the leading Korean manufacturer as the maker of the best-selling Jongga Kimchi brand. CJ came in second with its Bibigo and Haseonjeong brands. These top two companies dominate the domestic market.