S. Korea's ice cream exports up 11% so far this year

South Korean ice cream and popsicle exports from January to August reached US$47 million, up 11.1 percent from last year, amid a drop in the country's overall overseas shipments.

The US was the largest exporter for South Korean ice cream with $12.96 million, up 27.9 percent from a year ago.

China was second with $6.93 million, followed by Canada with $4.81 million.

Rounding up the top five were Vietnam with $3.55 million and the Philippines with $3.28 million.

With the trend, ice cream exports are widely expected to set a new record in 2020.

Last year, ice cream exports came to $54.2 million.

In the same period, South Korea imported $28.37 million worth of ice cream.

According to the data, France is the largest exporter at $11.66 million.

South Korea's frozen dessert market shrunk from 2.1 trillion won in 2015 to 1.6 trillion won in 2019.

The drop was due to the country's aging society and the changing preference by the younger population for other confectionaries such as snacks.