Inner beauty market seen doubling to $1.4bn this year

Yonhap News

South Korea’s “inner beauty” market—health supplements marketed as edible cosmetics—is expanding rapidly, with sales expected to reach the 2 trillion won ($1.38 billion) range this year.

According to Shinhan Investment’s research center on Thursday, the domestic inner beauty market is projected to grow from 1 trillion won in 2023 to around 2 trillion won this year, driven by the slow-aging trend and a shift in beauty routines toward internal health management.

Market researcher Precedence Research forecasts the global inner beauty market to expand from $7.59 billion in 2024 to $16.89 billion by 2034.

The category is diversifying as functional ingredients such as probiotics, collagen, glutathione and biotin gain traction, leading to finer segmentation across products. Food companies are also accelerating efforts to tap business-to-business demand.

CJ Wellcare launched “Innerb Slimming Starter” in July, a health supplement designed to manage both blood sugar and body fat.

Hy also released “M.PRO Diet” the same month, focusing on gut health and dietary fiber using probiotics. Hy’s probiotic ingredient sales to corporate clients totaled 15 billion won (18 tons) from January to October, already surpassing last year’s full-year figure of 11.6 billion won (10 tons).