Amid the growing popularity, South Korea's exports of cosmetic products exceeded $10 billion last year, marking a significant milestone for the K-beauty industry, government data showed on Monday.

The combined shipments of cosmetic products jumped 20.6 percent on-year to an all-time high of $10.2 billion in 2024, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said in a press release, reports YOnhap news agency.

The record result was helped by the growing popularity of Korean cultural content, such as K-pop and K-dramas, it added.

By country, China was the biggest importer of South Korean cosmetics, with purchases worth $2.5 billion, followed by the United States with $1.9 billion and Japan with $1 billion.

"The government will strengthen cooperation with trading partner countries to help local firms continue the growth of cosmetic exports while helping them meet safety standards in the U.S. and China," Food Minister Oh Yu-Kyoung said in the release.

The country's outbound shipments of cosmetic products have been on a steady rise since 2014. Overseas sales of cosmetic products grew from $1.8 billion in 2014 to $4.9 billion in 2017, $7.6 billion in 2020, $9.2 billion in 2021 and $8.5 billion in 2023.

Meanwhile, South Korea's exports of bio-health products jumped 22.5 per cent in the third quarter from a year earlier, driven by growing demand for pharmaceutical goods in European nations.

Outbound shipments of bio-health products, including pharmaceutical goods and cosmetics, amounted to $6.34 billion in the July-September period, compared with $5.17 billion recorded over the same period in 2023, according to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

By sector, exports of pharmaceutical products jumped 43.5 per cent on-year to $2.38 billion, led by increased shipments to Hungary, Germany and Belgium.

Exports of medical instruments rose 1.8 per cent on-year to $1.37 billion, bolstered by laser equipment, the data showed.

Over the January-September period, South Korea's bio-health exports reached $18.5 billion, up 15.6 per cent from the previous year.