Korean seafood imports totaled $6.47 billion in 2022, up 12.7 percent from the year before. Seafood for human consumption imported from the United States to Korea in 2022 reached $229 million, an increase of 5.6 percent year-to-year. The United States remains the fifth largest seafood exporter to Korea with a 3.5 percent market share. Korean consumers generally see U.S. fishery products as high-quality and unpolluted, but regional competitors often have lower prices.

Korea Seafood Market Update 2023_Seoul ATO_Korea - Republic of_KS2023-0017 

Domestic production is projected to drop to 1.93 million tons in 2023 after reaching 1.98 million tons in 2021. Milk production is expected to show a downward trend due to the decreasing number of dairy farms, decreasing number of milk cows, and falling demand coinciding with the falling birth rate. On the other hand, cheese consumption, as well as demand for other dairy products such as cream and butter, is gradually increasing due to evolving tastes as well as increased awareness of the healthy proteins in dairy products. However, imports in 2023 may experience an unusual drop due to high inflation and the weakening Korean won exchange rate, particularly against the U.S. dollar.

In 2021 (latest data available), sales of the HRI food service sector reached 150.76 trillion KRW (131.7 billion USD), an increase of 7.77 percent from 2020 and an increase of 4.41 percent from 2019. Coping with the pandemic, Korea’s HRI food service sector has tried to adopt modern technologies and come up with strategies for safe and convenient dining experience to meet changing demand from consumers. Since pandemic related restrictions have been lifted and consumer demand for diverse food and dining options is increasing, it is expected that the HRI sector will show a constant growth though at a slow pace due to the sluggish local economy.

Korea was the 5th largest country importer of U.S. agricultural and related products in 2022. The United States is the leading supplier of imported consumer-oriented agricultural products for Korean retail industry, shipping $5.9 billion in 2022. The outlook for U.S. products in the Korean retail industry is excellent for a wide range of products, including beef, food preparations under HS2106, pork, dairy products, wine, high-volume alcohols, chocolate & food preparations under HS1806, nuts, frozen vegetables, and citrus.

Retail Foods_Seoul ATO_Korea - Republic of_KS2023-0011

Korea has a strong food processing industry that manufactures a wide variety of food and beverage products. It also relies heavily on imports to fulfill its food and agricultural needs. As a result, the Korean food processing industry offers an outstanding opportunity for imported agricultural products for processing use, including basic commodities such as wheat and soybean, intermediate ingredients such as vegetable oils and fruit juice concentrates, and food additives such as flavors and coloring agents. The food processing industry generated 79.1 trillion Korean Won ($69.1 billion) in sales in 2021, up 5.3 percent from 2020.

Food Processing Ingredients_Seoul ATO_Korea - Republic of_KS2023-0009