South Korea's Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF) stated on the 3rd that South Korea's agricultural and sideline product exports last year increased by 5.3% year-on-year to US$12 billion, setting a new record for 2021 (US$11.4 billion).

Specifically, the export value of agricultural food among agricultural and sideline products was 8.83 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 3.2%; the export value of aquatic food was 3.16 billion US dollars, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%. In terms of items, the export value of rice processed food and instant noodles increased by 10.1% and 13.5% year-on-year respectively, and the export value of grapefruit (tea) and pear increased by 6.6% and 3.5% year-on-year respectively.

According to analysis, the Korean food culture has become popular all over the world, which has promoted foods such as fried rice cakes and instant rice in Europe and the United States, and boosted the increase in the export of rice-processed foods. Exports of processed foods such as instant noodles and beverages have achieved good results thanks to the popularity of convenient and fast foods, the rising popularity of Hallyu, and the active promotion of Korean food.