South Korea’s film, television and streaming sector contributed 24.8 trillion won ($16.4 billion at current exchange rates) to South Korea’s GDP in 2025 and supported 291,100 jobs, according to an independent economic study commissioned by the Motion Picture Association of Japan.
The report, “Economic Contribution of South Korea’s Audiovisual Industry,” prepared by Oxford Economics, was presented in front of parliamentarians and industry leaders at the National Assembly in Seoul. It assesses the sector’s entire economic footprint across direct production activities, supply chain spending and induced consumer spending.
The study calculated that for every 1 billion won (about $680,000) directly generated by the industry, an additional 2.1 billion won (about $140 million) was generated for the economy as a whole, suggesting a GDP multiplier of 3.1. The employment multiplier was 3.4. This means that 100 direct jobs support a further 240 jobs in other regions. Nearly four-fifths (78%) of all employment in the sector are in micro, small and medium enterprises, with micro enterprises alone accounting for 36% of employment. Of the total 291,100 jobs supported, the information and communications sector accounted for the largest share at 116,500, reflecting the digital-intensive nature of the industry’s supply chain.
Television was the main segment, contributing about 15.62 trillion won ($10.6 billion), or about 65% of the industry’s total GDP output, and supporting 181,200 jobs. Movies added 4.96 trillion won ($3.4 billion) and 77,800 jobs, and video-on-demand added 3.5 trillion won ($2.4 billion) and 32,100 jobs. The industry generated an estimated total of 7.17 trillion won ($4.9 billion) in tax revenue.
VOD employees are by far the most productive in the sector, contributing an average of 437 million won ($297,000) to direct GDP per person, nearly five times the national average of 92 million won ($62,600). Television followed with 107 million won ($72,800) per worker.
Looking ahead, the report predicts that VOD will be the fastest growing sector in the sector, with direct GDP and tax burdens forecast to grow at around 7.4% and 7.2% annually until 2028, respectively. Movies and television are expected to see a gradual contraction due to a broader shift in audience consumption to streaming and digital platforms. If the proposed merger between local platforms Tving and Wavve is completed, it could create a combined entity with approximately 9.3 million monthly active users, making it South Korea’s largest local streamer and strengthening the local platforms’ ability to compete with global players.
The study also tracks a sharp increase in international reach. South Korea’s film and television content exports will reach 1.8 trillion won ($1.2 billion) in 2024, nearly double the 899 billion won ($612 million) recorded in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 14.5%. To put this number in context, the report notes that South Korea’s export value exceeded that of beverages and spirits (1.71 trillion won/$1.16 billion) and railway locomotives (1.39 trillion won/$946 million). Broadcasting accounts for the majority at around 1.5 trillion won (approximately $1 billion), with the rest coming from animation and movies.
Asia still accounts for about two-thirds of all Korean film exports, but North America and Europe have each grown to about 14% of the export share, reflecting deepening platform partnerships, improved localization, and growing international recognition for Korean storytelling.
Cultural spillover into tourism is also quantified in the report. Approximately 38.3% of inbound tourists said they were motivated to visit South Korea by being interested in Korean Wave content, an increase from 32.1% last year, making this the most frequently cited reason for visiting. A case study from Netflix’s 2025 K-drama “When Life Gives You Tangerines,” set in a fishing village on Jeju Island, directly illustrates this mechanism. After the series topped the non-English world rankings, Jeju Island has recorded a year-on-year increase in foreign tourists every month since April, with arrivals from January to September reaching 1.74 million, an increase of 17.5%. The Jeju Haenyeo Museum, which featured prominently in the series, saw the number of foreign visitors increase by 58.9% to nearly 50,000 by November.
“Korea’s audiovisual industry has become one of the most influential industries in the world,” said MPA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin. “This report shows an industry that provides significant economic value at home while exporting creativity, culture and innovation to a global audience. MPA member studios are proud to partner with Korean creators to bring these stories to screens around the world.”
Mira Venugopalan, president and managing director of MPA Asia-Pacific, added: “Wherever we travel, policymakers ask how South Korea did it.” “This report shows that South Korea’s success is based on strong creative talent, evidence-based policies, and international cooperation. This is a model that many markets are now trying to emulate.”
“Korea’s screen industry combines domestic strength with global reach,” said Bo Son, managing director of MPA Korea. “The impact will be on jobs, exports and long-term economic growth.”
“Korea’s video content industry has evolved beyond the global spread of Hallyu to become a major driving force of the national economy,” said Lim Oh-kyung, a member of the National Assembly who specializes in culture, content, and sports policy. He added that data-driven analysis of impacts in this area will play an “important role as a reference for future policy development and regulatory improvements.”
In terms of human resources development, the Korea Creative Content Agency and the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism have invested 43 billion won ($29.3 million) to train approximately 3,400 professionals across AI, creative, and export-oriented roles based on the 2026 roadmap. The program includes partnering with Netflix to retrain 1,000 VOD specialists in planning and post-production, as well as a flagship mentoring effort for 300 aspiring creators aged 19-34.
MPA member studios Netflix, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Walt Disney Studios, Prime Video & Amazon MGM Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery all maintain active relationships with Korean producers, broadcasters, and distributors.
Despite the headline numbers, the report identifies several pressures impacting the sector’s outlook. Theater attendance has not recovered to pre-pandemic levels, the mid-budget segment that once defined Korean films is shrinking under the weight of rising production costs and shrinking profit margins, and an uncertain regulatory environment has eroded investor confidence. This research was commissioned as an evidence base for future policy design and to support the long-term competitiveness of the sector.
