How Korean Webtoons' Popularity Has Grown In 2022 According To A Government Annual Survey About Hallyu Overseas

Hallyu has grown in popularity at an exponential rate. Be it K-Pop, K-Dramas, K-Beauty, K-Food, or any other sector... Each sector is thriving in its individual capacity and together as a whole phenomenon. Among the different sectors or aspects of Korean culture/pop culture that are gaining popularity, Korean webtoons are also gaining a world of praise and recognition.

The KOFICE (Korean Foundation for International Cultural Exchange) recently facilitated a survey and collected data about the popularity of the Hallyu wave (the Korean wave) overseas for 2022. This government organization releases the survey results annually.

The study revealed a lot of interesting data and information about various mediums including Korean webtoons.

In this article, we'll take a look at how the popularity of Korean webtoons has grown and some of the trends surrounding it backed by the data released in this annual government survey.

Let's find out just how much of a splash Korean webtoons managed to make in the Hallyu wave in 2022!

 

Assessing How Popular Korean Webtoons Have Become Overseas

How Popular are Korean Webtoons in Korea?

Korean webtoons have always been super popular in South Korea. If you're on your way somewhere on public transport, the odds of seeing the average young Korean reading a webtoon on their phone is very high.

For instance, if we consider the popularity of webtoons compared to other mediums in the industry, you might be surprised. In 2022, the data analyst company TDI revealed the most loved mobile apps by Koreans for 2022. The webtoon platform Naver Webtoon was the only webtoon platform in the Top 20. However, it also ranked in 3rd place, beating prominent OTT streaming platforms. This should give you a slight indication of how popular webtoons are in Korea in general.

 

How Popular are Korean Webtoons Overseas?

Whilst Korean webtoons are still finding their feet in terms of popularity overseas, they are still doing incredibly well.

Regarding the popularity of K-Culture content overseas, webtoons proved to hold 29.9% popularity among the overseas public in 2022. This is compared to 31.9% in 2021, showing that the popularity has remained relatively similar despite a small dip. This is still quite high compared to the 2018 percentage of 20.3%.

Webtoons also scored 53.3 points out of 100 points for the BPI (Brand Power Index) in 2022. This is down 2.4 points from 2021 (55.7 points) and an increase compared to 52.1 points in 2020.

This is in addition to a 1.4% increase in consumption as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Webtoons were at 48.5% consumption in 2021 and increased to 49.9% consumption in 2022, which is quite impressive considering that the pandemic started to ease up in 2022.

In comparison to other aspects of the Hallyu wave like music or food, webtoons might stand on the lower end of the ranking. However, it's been noted that despite a lower general interest in the medium, fans who are interested in it expressed high levels of concentration and appreciation for Korean webtoons.

 

Where are Korean Webtoons Popular and Why?

Korean webtoons are extremely popular overseas and for good reason. Have you ever wondered where exactly they are most highly regarded? Or how do people have access to them?

Well, the survey found that Korean webtoons were most commonly accessed through Naver Webtoon (48.9%) or through other global sites and apps. You can access the Naver Webtoon website here.

Interestingly, the monthly average that consumers spent on webtoons in a month went from 14.8 US Dollars in 2021 to 13 US Dollars in 2022.

Additionally, the countries that most favored Korean webtoons included India, Brazil, and Thailand.

As for what readers loved about them... Overseas webtoon readers noted that they most loved the structured nature of webtoons and the realistic and detailed drawings included. However, they also noted that some of the things they don't enjoy about webtoons include insufficient translation or when the language or culture is difficult to understand.

 

Significant Korean Webtoon Moments In 2022

Korean Webtoon Milestones and Achievements Noted By KOFICE

In May of 2022, the Korean authors of "Navillera", a hit webtoon that was later turned into a hit K-Drama of the same name, were announced to be competing in the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards. The webtoon was nominated in the best webcomic category alongside other popular comics like "Batman". This is one of the biggest comic awards shows in North America, which means that this was a monumental moment for the authors.

The webtoon (in Korean "나빌레라") was written by HUN and JiMin and published from July 2016 to October 2017. It tells the growth story of a 70-year-old elderly man who starts ballet and a 23-year-old ballet dancer who wanders in front of his dreams. The one whose life is ending and the one whose life is starting build a friendship through ballet.

You can read the webtoon in Korean here.

 

Other Korean Webtoon Achievements Noted by Webtoon Platforms

Additionally, some Korean webtoons were awarded for their popularity by various webtoon platforms.

Some such examples were the Korean webtoons "Grave Robber - King", "Siren: I Became Contractual Family With A Villian" (this is a direct translation and the webtoon is called "세이렌: 악당과 계약가족이 되었다" in Korean), and "Business Proposal". These three webtoons won 'Webtoon of the Year' for Kakao Page's annual awards selection. The criteria for selection were based on works with the most views and comments.

Naver Webtoon also released a report called "2022 With Webtoon: My Webtoon Report" which highlights webtoon data for the year. This allowed users to get a customized report of their webtoon reading data including how much they read, the type of content they read, and more based on their history.

This personal report also came with grouped and categorized information about the webtoon reading population on the platform.

For example, works such as "True Beauty" and "Lookism" held their top ranks as always in 2022. Additionally, Korean webtoons like "+99 Reinforced Wooden Stick" and "Maybe Meant to Be" made it to the best rookie webtoon category.

These webtoons were transferred for global translation only 2 months into their Korean serialization. In less than a year, they were translated to and settled at the top rankings for Thai, English, and French, showing huge potential.

Currently, Naver Webtoon serves 60% of its content on global services in non-Korean languages.

 

Dual Popularity Through Webtoon-based Content and K-Dramas in 2022

We can't ignore the role that webtoon-based content and especially K-Dramas played in the success of Korean webtoons.

2022 delivered a number of K-Dramas based on webtoons that were extremely popular, creating a double popularity effect. Many fans who watched these dramas and perhaps didn't know about their webtoons, went back to the webtoon to read the original story.

Many of these dramas did exceptionally well, drawing newfound attention to the original webtoon. Some of the most popular K-Drama titles of 2022 based on webtoons include "Tomorrow", "Weak Hero Class 1", and more.

"All of Us Are Dead" ranked first as a non-English series on Netflix in 2022, adding to the influence of the webtoon. Streaming platforms such as Netflix, TVING, and Disney Plus also helped the webtoons for "The Sound of Magic", "Sweet Home", and "Yumi's Cells" gain renewed attention with their screen adaptations.

The "Yumi's Cells" franchise went as far as to incorporate the characters into the actual drama through 3D animation, creating more of a multiverse effect for those who were watching the drama after having read the webtoon.

You can read articles on Kpopmap that compare these 2022 K-Dramas with their original webtoon here: "Business Proposal" / "Tomorrow" / "Semantic Error" / "All of Us Are Dead" / "Cherry Blossoms After Winter" / "Again My Life" / "Yumi's Cells" (Season 1)

With all of the above factors considered, it's no surprise that Korean webtoons are maintaining their current popularity and even gaining popularity. Especially with the increase in webtoon-based K-Dramas and other content which are drawing attention back to their creative source... Korean webtoons are set to only go onwards and upwards in the future of Hallyu.

Are you a fan of Korean webtoons? Which one is your favorite and what do you love about it? Let us know in the comments!