SEOUL : South Korea’s cosmetics exports have climbed to second place globally, surpassing those of the United States for the first time this year and now trailing industry powerhouse France, data showed Monday.

According to the Korea International Trade Association, Korea exported  RM15.14 billion ($3.61 billion) worth of cosmetics from January to April, narrowly edging out the United States’ RM14.97 billion ($3.57 billion).

This marks Korea’s first time overtaking the US in beauty exports, after its exports in the January–March period, which totaled RM10.82 billion ($2.58 billion), had lagged behind America’s RM11.40 billion ($2.72 billion).

Korea’s cosmetics exports have been rising at a blistering pace.

Last year, Korea’s cosmetics exports totaled RM43.19 billion ($10.3 billion), outpacing Germany’s RM38.07 billion ($9.08 billion) to become the world’s third-largest exporter, behind France and the US. While France and the US recorded growth of 6.3 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively, Korea’s exports surged by 20.3 percent.

This upward momentum has carried into this year, with monthly exports climbing from RM3.15 billion ($750.8 million) in January to RM3.71billion ($885.9 million) in February, RM3.941 billion ($939.9 million) in March and RM4.32 billion ($1.03 billion) in April.

The ongoing rise of K-beauty is set to push further into emerging markets in Europe and the Middle East, including Poland, Ireland, Belgium and the United Arab Emirates.

According to data from the KITA, exports to Poland from January to May surged 121 percent to RM468.78 million ($111.8 million), up from RM211.33 million ($50.4 million) a year earlier, while exports to the UAE rose 74 percent to RM416.36 million ($99.3 million) from RM239 million) $57 million over the same period.