A forecast said K-culture spreading through TikTok will generate more than 4 trillion won in economic effects for Korea by 2030. It analyzed that interest and participation formed by short-form content lead to real-world spending, such as purchases of K-beauty and K-food products and travel to Korea.
TikTok on the 26th held a "K-culture on TikTok" press briefing at the Eliena Hotel in Gangnam District, Seoul, and released a report titled "K-culture on TikTok: Driving global economic impact," jointly researched with global management consulting corporations Kearney. The report quantitatively analyzed the value and ripple effects that interest in Korean culture formed through TikTok has on major domestic industries and the economy, beyond fandom.
The study combined a survey of 3,300 consumers ages 16 to 49 in 10 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Japan, with an economic impact analysis. The analysis covered six areas: ▲ K-pop ▲ K-media and IP (content) ▲ K-beauty ▲ K-food ▲ K-fashion ▲ K-tourism.
The report assessed that the spread of K-culture has entered the "K-culture 4.0" stage, after moving from the TV broadcast-centered "K-culture 1.0," to the social media (SNS) fandom-centered "2.0," and to the popularization stage via global over-the-top (OTT) and streaming in "3.0." K-culture 4.0 is a stage in which, centered on short-form platforms including TikTok and user-generated content (UGC), K-culture's influence expands beyond content to overall consumption.
TikTok was found to play a role in creating a virtuous cycle of discovering new K-culture content, forming preferences, and spreading through user participation, converting global interest into real industrial demand. Among survey respondents, 88.7% said TikTok is a platform that helps them discover K-culture. Responses saying their preference for K-culture increased after using TikTok came to 69.5%.
Of respondents, 61.4% said that when they engage with K-culture content on TikTok, the likelihood of consuming related goods or services grows. Those who said they actually made expenditure after encountering related content on TikTok reached 55.7%.
According to the report, the economic impact TikTok creates through K-culture is projected to rise 29%, from 3.137 trillion won this year to about 4.064 trillion won in 2030. Of that, consumer spending is estimated to increase from about 1.075 trillion won to 1.392 trillion won over the same period. Such consumer expenditure is analyzed to bring substantial ripple effects to domestic production and employment. In 2030, the domestic production inducement effect is estimated at about 2.672 trillion won, and the employment inducement effect at about 118,865 people.
By industry, as of 2030, the direct economic impact in the K-beauty sector is projected to be 327 billion won, the largest. The economic impact of K-tourism is expected to increase 44.0% from this year, recording the highest growth rate among the six sectors. Employment induced through K-tourism is also analyzed to be the largest, at about 30,384 people.
Jaehoon Jung, head of operations at TikTok Korea, said, "This report shows that TikTok is contributing not just as a content platform but also to the global spread of Korean culture and the creation of real economic value that underpins it," adding, "We will continue to act as a partner supporting new growth opportunities created by K-culture, together with creators, users, brands and Korea's industries at large."
Cho Hyeong-jin, head of the strategy group at Kearney Korea, said, "Until now, the influence of K-culture has mainly been discussed in terms of popularity and buzz, but this study is meaningful in that it quantitatively verified the value K-culture creates for real industries and the economy," analyzing, "We were able to confirm a virtuous cycle in which interest and participation formed on digital platforms lead to consumption expenditure, which in turn ripple into domestic production and employment."