K-beauty fuels record online exports for SMEs

South Korea’s small and medium-sized enterprises recorded their strongest-ever first quarter for online exports in 2026, propelled by soaring global demand for K-beauty products.

Data released May 14 by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups showed that SME online exports reached $300 million during the January-March period, up 38.2 percent from $220 million a year earlier. The figure marked the highest first-quarter performance since related data began being compiled.

Online exports refer to overseas purchases made through e-commerce platforms such as Amazon. The number of SMEs engaged in online exports also rose sharply, climbing 14.4 percent on-year to 2,735 companies, another record for the first quarter. SMEs accounted for 70 percent of the country’s total online export volume during the period.

Cosmetics overwhelmingly led the growth. Beauty products accounted for 65.8 percent of exports among the top five online export categories. Online cosmetics exports surged 74.2 percent from a year earlier to $200 million, setting a new first-quarter record.

By market, exports of cosmetics to the United States increased 60.8 percent, while shipments to China jumped 90.8 percent. Demand also expanded rapidly across Europe as K-beauty continued to gain momentum overseas, with exports to the United Kingdom soaring 282.8 percent and those to the Netherlands rising 133.8 percent.

Apparel exports, however, moved in the opposite direction. Clothing, the second-largest online export category with a 7.7 percent share, fell 2.2 percent from a year earlier to $23 million.


남혜정 namduck2@donga.com