South Korea's exports of food, led by instant noodles, grew an average of 8 per cent annually over the past 10 years on the growing global popularity of K-culture, a business organisation said on Thursday.

K-food shipments doubled to $7.02 billion in 2024 from $3.51 billion in 2015, with instant noodles, or "ramyeon" in Korean, leading the growth, according to a report released by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), reports Yonhap news agency.

Ramyeon exports increased by an average of 20 percent a year in the past decade, helped by strong demand for K-pop and other K-content, as well as a growing preference for easy-to-cook and inexpensive meals amid an economic slowdown, the report said.

Last year, ramyeon topped other items with exports reaching $1.36 billion, followed by home meal replacement (HMR) products at $980 million, beverages at $940 million and health functional foods at $820 million.

The United States, China and Japan were the top three importers of Korean ramyeon products last year.

In the U.S., some Korean food products, including Samyang Foods’ Buldak spicy ramyeon series, have landed on the shelves of Costco Wholesale and other major discount store chains, a KCCI official said.

"A combination of increased sales networks in major markets and aggressive marketing has helped drive up the demand for Korean instant-ramyeon products overseas," the official added.

Meanwhile, South Korea's exports of kimchi increased 6.9 per cent from a year earlier to hit a record high in 2024, driven by growing global popularity of Korean cuisine, government data showed.

Outbound shipments of kimchi, a traditional Korean side dish typically made from fermented cabbage, reached a fresh high of 47,100 tons, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

The country had exported 44,000 tonnes of kimchi in 2023 and 41,100 tons in 2022.

The value of kimchi exports also climbed to a new record high of US$163.6 million in 2024, up 5.2 per cent from the previous year.