K-Beauty Market Briefing — 2026-08-04

Original English analysis for global buyers. Source articles are linked; summaries are newly written, not excerpted.

trade

July exports make it nine straight months of growth, with Europe the fastest lane

Korean cosmetics exports reached USD 1.35 billion in July, up 37.8% year on year and a record for the month, marking the ninth consecutive month of growth. The US took USD 240 million (+34.9%) while the EU jumped 58.3% to USD 130 million, and Latin America grew 120.3% — with Brazil shipments up roughly sixfold since 2022 as US and European offline retail listings expand.

Buyer takeaway: EU buyers should read the 58% import acceleration as their direct competition ramping up: categories that were easy to source exclusively six months ago now have multiple European bidders, so exclusivity clauses are worth more than price concessions right now.

Source: Cosin Korea (Korean)

regulation

Seoul will put cosmetics regulators from three continents in one room — and companies can book a seat

Korea's MFDS confirmed the 2026 Global Cosmetics Regulatory Authorities Summit (GCORAS) for 7 September, pairing a regulatory forum on EU rule changes and emerging-market frameworks with small-group consultation sessions where companies can put pre-submitted compliance questions directly to regulators from Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Europe and Australia. Corporate registration closes 7 August.

Buyer takeaway: Buyers importing into GCC or ASEAN markets should ask their Korean suppliers whether they are attending, because a supplier that gets its notification questions answered by the regulator in September saves both sides months of compliance guesswork on next year's orders.

Source: Cosin Korea (Korean)

demand

LG H&H's map flips: North America is now bigger than China

LG Household & Health Care's Q2 saw North American revenue surge 47.3% to KRW 205.8 billion, overtaking China (KRW 176 billion) as its largest overseas market for the first time, while group operating profit rose 87.5% and the beauty division returned to profitability. Overseas sales now account for 35% of the group's total.

Buyer takeaway: The second of Korea's two beauty conglomerates has now formally re-weighted away from China, which means Western buyers can expect more launch pipelines, marketing budget and SKU depth designed for their markets first rather than adapted from China lines.

Source: Global Cosmetics News (Korean)

About AnD KBeauty

This briefing is researched and written by AnD KBeauty, a Seoul-based K-beauty B2B wholesale supplier for small and mid-size retailers in the US, EU/UK, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. We publish open MOQs, lead times and compliance guides with no login wall, and consolidate mixed-brand orders from 30-100 units per SKU into one shipment from Korea.

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