K-food exports hit $10 billion in record 253 days

South Korea's K-food exports crossed $10 billion in the first 253 days of 2026, the fastest the country has ever reached that mark, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT).

The state trade agency reported the figure on September 14, 253 days into the year and 19 days ahead of the pace that produced last year's equivalent milestone. It is the earliest South Korea has crossed $10 billion in K-food exports on record, a run built largely on instant noodles.

Ramyeon drives K-food exports

Instant noodles now outsell most of what Korea grows, proving snack food travels better than produce.

Instant noodle exports, known in Korean as ramyeon, rose 27.2% to $1.31 billion over the same 253 days, aT said. The category now accounts for roughly one in eight dollars of K-food exports, and demand keeps outrunning the rest of the food basket.

Exports to the United States, the largest single market, rose 12.9% to $1.81 billion. China followed at $1.67 billion, up 14.0%. Smaller markets moved faster still: shipments to the United Arab Emirates jumped 49.9% to $331.7 million, aT figures show.

"Hitting $10 billion this early shows how far K-food's global standing has come," an aT official said. "The challenge now is converting first-time buyers into repeat customers who make these products part of their daily lives."

Five years of faster milestones

South Korea first crossed $10 billion in K-food exports in 2021, and each year since has reached that line earlier than the last, aT data show. Full-year 2025 exports under the "K-Food+" banner, which adds food-related equipment and technology to food products, reached a record $13.62 billion, up 5.1% year-on-year, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) said in January. Agri-food products alone made up $10.41 billion of that total, the first time the food-only category had cleared $10 billion for a full year; ramyeon became the first single food item to top $1.5 billion in annual exports.

The pace tracks a broader shift in appetite. A 2025 survey spanning 22 countries and roughly 11,000 consumers found that about two in three people worldwide have now tried Korean food. Retailers are moving to keep up, and the interest runs both ways: mainstream US grocery chains now carry ramyeon by the pallet, while Chipotle is opening in Seoul this year to chase the same appetite from the other direction.

MAFRA has set a 2026 target of $16 billion for K-Food+, a 17.5% jump on last year's record. Holding the current pace through the final quarter, when gift sets and instant noodles typically do the heaviest lifting, will decide whether that target is more than an aspiration.