For years, Arabic fragrance was the easy answer when buyers asked what sells fastest in health and beauty on Qogita. That changed in February 2026.
K-beauty overtook Arabic fragrance to become Qogita’s largest health and beauty category, and the shift wasn’t gradual. The category has grown 23x in the past 14 months and is up 1,077% year over year when comparing Q1 2025 to Q1 2026. Over the last 90 days alone, K-beauty generated €9.8 million in GMV on Qogita.
This isn't a short-term spike or a seasonal trend. It's a shift that's been building for more than a year, and when you look at what's happening beyond Qogita, the timing makes a lot of sense.
The numbers behind the shift
The rise of K-beauty isn’t just showing up on social feeds and store shelves. It’s showing up in trade data too.
South Korea exported a record $11.4 billion worth of cosmetics in 2025, overtaking the United States to become the world’s second-largest cosmetics exporter behind France. The category has continued to grow in 2026, with first-quarter exports reaching $3.1 billion, up nearly 20% compared with the same period a year earlier.
The scale of that growth is attracting attention beyond the beauty industry. South Korea has increasingly highlighted cosmetics exports as an important contributor to trade growth, reflecting how important the category has become to the country's economy.
Within that broader growth story, some product categories are expanding particularly quickly. Fragrance exports rose 46.2% year over year to $57 million, while body cleansing products grew 27.3% and colour cosmetics increased 12%.
Skincare remains the foundation of the category, accounting for nearly 75% of South Korea’s total cosmetics exports. It’s also the segment doing much of the heavy lifting within Qogita’s own K-beauty growth.
Taken together, the numbers suggest that K-beauty’s growth is no longer tied to a handful of breakout products or viral moments. Demand is spreading across multiple categories at the same time, creating a broader foundation for growth than retailers may have seen even a few years ago.
Why buyers are switching their carts
Two themes appear repeatedly when looking at what’s driving demand, both globally and on Qogita.
The first is ingredients.
Centella asiatica, snail mucin, and PDRN have moved far beyond niche skincare communities and into the mainstream. Products built around these ingredients are now widely recognised by consumers, helped by social media, creator recommendations, and growing awareness of Korean skincare routines.
Buyers aren’t simply responding to trends. Many of these ingredients have become associated with everyday skincare regimens, helping products move from impulse purchases into repeat-buy categories.
The second factor is positioning.
K-beauty occupies a space that many retailers find attractive: products that feel premium without carrying prestige-level prices. For independent retailers in particular, that creates an opportunity to offer something distinct without competing directly with luxury beauty counters or mass-market chains.
In a category where differentiation is increasingly difficult, that balance of accessibility and perceived quality continues to resonate with consumers.
Europe offers a useful example of how these trends play out in practice. Skincare accounted for 31% of K-beauty category revenue in Europe during 2025, with much of that demand linked to centella- and snail mucin-based products associated with the "glass skin" trend.
That demand is also reflected in Qogita's marketplace, where many buyers source K-beauty products specifically for European and Middle Eastern customers.
What’s stocking the shelves
The brands driving K-beauty’s growth on Qogita have generally built their reputations around ingredient-focused formulations and clear product positioning.
Brands such as Beauty of Joseon, CosRX, Skin1004, Anua, TIRTIR, and Biodance are all available on the platform today, with additional brands being added as Qogita continues expanding its K-beauty catalogue through Q3.
For retailers, the timing is notable. Categories that grow this quickly often become more competitive as awareness spreads and more sellers enter the market. Many buyers are choosing to expand their K-beauty assortments while the category is still gaining momentum.
For brands, the growth offers a different signal. Rising retailer demand suggests that K-beauty is no longer a category that requires extensive market validation before launch. In many cases, retailers are already actively looking for new products and suppliers to meet growing customer interest.
None of this means Arabic fragrance is disappearing. It remains one of Qogita’s strongest-performing categories and continues to attract significant buyer demand.
What has changed is the pace of growth
K-beauty has moved from an emerging trend to Qogita’s largest health and beauty category in just over a year. With the catalogue continuing to expand and buyer demand remaining strong, it has become one of the most closely watched categories on the marketplace.
Browse the full K-beauty catalogue on Qogita, or check back next quarter as we continue tracking how the category evolves.