U.S. beer exports to South Korea totaled $35 million in 2020, up 3 percent from the previous year. Overall Korean beer imports, in contrast, declined 19 percent to $227 million due to weak on-premise sales during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Korean government adopted a volume-based liquor tax for beer... on January 1, 2020, which reduces the tax burden for higher quality beers, including imported U.S. craft beer. The tax change along with increased Korean consumer demand for quality and diversity should generate growth opportunities for U.S. beer exports to Korea in coming years.

Domestic milk production is forecast to return to 2.03 million tons after spiking to 2.1 million tons in 2020. Milk production in 2020 benefited from favorable weather and higher price expectations. At the same time, COVID-19 related school closures resulted in weaker fluid milk demand. The resulting imbalance resulted in higher dried milk production and large dried milk stocks.

The United States exported $8.9 billion in agricultural and related products to South Korea in 2019, making it our fifth largest agricultural export market. The United States is the leading exporter of agricultural products to Korea with a 25 percent market share. While overall U.S. agricultural exports to Korea will likely decline slightly in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, exports of consumer-oriented products should continue to grow. Ongoing socio-economic shifts coupled with elevated consumer attention to quality of diet in Korea will generate new opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products for years to come.

Growth in e-commerce and meal delivery services have opened new sales channels for soft drinks. NOTE: Market Briefs are a series of shorter, graphically friendly reports developed by ATO Seoul. They are designed to give potential exporters a quick overview of the market. We welcome feedback on the new format at atoseoul@state.gov.