South Korea’s 2025 exports of agricultural and fishery products topped ten billion U.S. dollars last month, reaching the feat 18 days earlier than it did last year. 

The Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation announced Wednesday that the export category had surpassed ten billion dollars for the first September on record.

The United States was the biggest importer of K-food products with outbound shipments amounting to approximately one-point-seven billion dollars, an increase of more than 15 percent from the same period of last year.

Europe came in second, with South Korea’s food shipments surging nearly 16 percent to reach 772 million dollars. 

Thanks to the strong popularity of K-food products in the U.S. and Europe, exports of ramen jumped nearly 25 percent to approximately one-point-one billion dollars. 

Exports of kimchi climbed three-point-two percent to 125 million dollars, and dried seaweed jumped around 14 percent to 877 million dollars.