South Korea's exports of cosmetics shot up 15 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, data showed Sunday, on the back of growing demand from the United States and Asian countries.

Outbound shipments of cosmetics reached $6.12 billion last year, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service and the Korea Cosmetic Association.

South Korea's imports of cosmetics fell 10.7 percent on-year in 2020 to $1.07 billion.

The country's exports of cosmetics had been maintaining two-digit annual growth since 2012, until they temporarily slowed in 2019, only rising 4.2 percent.

In the first quarter of the year, their shipments also shot up 32.4 percent on-year to $1.88 billion, the data showed.

The growth was attributable to the cultural wave of "hallyu" overseas, which refers to the boom of South Korean-made entertainment goods, including pop music, movies and TV dramas.

By destination, exports to China soared 24.6 percent, with shipments to Japan and Vietnam also moving up 58.7 percent and 17.6 percent over the cited period, respectively.

Last year, the country's total outbound shipments came to $512.8 billion, down 5.4 percent from 2019. (Yonhap)