Anti-ageing market on growth trajectory in South Korea

Anti-ageing has become a key word in Korea’s cosmetics industry. According to the Samsung Economic Research Institute (SERI), over 13% of the population in South Korea is now in its 50s, accounting for 22.5% of domestic consumption. Population trends show that older age groups will steadily take an ever greater share.

According to SERI, the anti-ageing market is also growing accordingly at an annual average of 10% each year and is tipped to reach South Korean Won (KRW)17.5 trillion in 2015 and KRW28.3 trillion by 2020.

The trend is already helping some smaller specialist companies. For example, Medytox Inc, a biopharmaceutical company working with microbial products such as Botulinum toxin has become the leader in anti-wrinkle skin care products. The company has been estimated to achieve record sales of KRW 47.9bn this year.

Bioland Co Ltd, the leading health food materials supplier in Korea, is also producing hyaluronic acid for moisturising and an increasing range of products for anti-aging cosmetics. It is expected to achieve record sales of KRW81.3bn this year.