K-pop in Numbers
From one viral video to the top of the world's charts: Korean pop music in numbers.
Gangnam Style (강남스타일) by Psy (싸이) became the first video to reach one billion views on YouTube on December 21, 2012, 159 days after it was uploaded.
As of April 1, 2026, BLACKPINK (블랙핑크) had 100 million subscribers, the most of any music act on YouTube, and 41.756 billion views, the most for any band.
BTS (방탄소년단) became the first all-South Korean act to top the U.S. singles chart with "Dynamite" in September 2020. "Swim" became the group's seventh No. 1 in April 2026.
"This & That" opened at No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart dated August 22, 2026, with 369,000 units. It was the group's ninth chart-topper, and all nine entered at No. 1.
IFPI, the global recording industry body, named BTS its Global Recording Artist of the Year for 2020 and again for 2021. BTS was the first Korean act to win and the first winner to perform mainly in a language other than English.
On IFPI's Global Album Sales Chart for 2023, which counts physical albums and full downloads, only one of the top 20 was not Korean. SEVENTEEN (세븐틴) was No. 1 with "FML" at 6.4 million units.
"APT." (아파트) by Rosé (로제) and Bruno Mars was IFPI's biggest-selling global single of 2025, the first winner with non-English lyrics. "Golden" from KPop Demon Hunters was No. 2 with 2.00 billion.
The song by HUNTR/X, the fictional girl group of the film KPop Demon Hunters, had led the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks by October 2025, the first No. 1 by a female group linked to K-pop. It won a Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media on February 1, 2026.
South Korea's music industry exported $1,801 million in 2024, up 47.4% from 2023 and about 81 times the $22 million of 2005, according to the government's Content Industry Survey.
Seven of the top 10 on IFPI's Global Album Sales Chart for 2025 were by Korean acts, led by Stray Kids' "KARMA" at No. 2 with 3.49 million units and SEVENTEEN's "HAPPY BURSTDAY" at No. 3 with 2.63 million.
"Love Yourself: Tear" by BTS topped the Billboard 200 dated June 2, 2018, the first K-pop album to do so. That September the group's leader RM spoke at United Nations headquarters during the 73rd General Assembly.
A Korea Foundation report covering 119 countries counted 225 million Hallyu (한류) fans as of December 2023, about 24 times the 9.26 million of its first survey in 2012.
South Korea ranked seventh among national recorded-music markets in 2025, behind the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, China, Germany and France, according to IFPI's Global Music Report 2026.
Korea Customs Service trade statistics put exports of physical albums at $301.7 million in 2025, a record and the first year above $300 million. The first half of 2026 alone reached $257.5 million.
Sales of South Korea's music industry reached 13.27 trillion won in 2024, more than double the 6.06 trillion won of 2020, according to the Content Industry Survey.
BLACKPINK headlined the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California on April 15 and 22, 2023, the first K-pop act to top the bill.
South Korea's music industry exports
Unit: US$ million. Content Industry Survey (콘텐츠산업조사), Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, via KOSIS OpenAPI: orgId 113, tblId DT_113_STBL_1023722 (음악산업 : 총괄), itmId 13103845233T1 (계), objL1 131028452331.006 (수출액), prdSe Y. Source unit is thousand US dollars; values here are divided by 1,000 and rounded to one decimal. Fetched 2026-10-01; table last updated 2026-05-07.
Data table
| Year | US$ million |
|---|---|
| 2005 | 22.3 |
| 2006 | 16.7 |
| 2007 | 13.9 |
| 2008 | 16.5 |
| 2009 | 31.3 |
| 2010 | 83.3 |
| 2011 | 196.1 |
| 2012 | 235.1 |
| 2013 | 277.3 |
| 2014 | 335.6 |
| 2015 | 381.0 |
| 2016 | 442.6 |
| 2017 | 512.6 |
| 2018 | 564.2 |
| 2019 | 756.2 |
| 2020 | 679.6 |
| 2021 | 775.3 |
| 2022 | 927.6 |
| 2023 | 1,222.5 |
| 2024 | 1,801.4 |