Yuwon Golf Foundation Publishes the Korea Golf Industry White Paper 2024, Presenting Industry Trends and Future Strategies

• 2023 domestic golf market valued at approximately KRW 2.4433 trillion… golf population exceeds 7 million
• Korea’s golf core market valued at KRW 817.5 billion and its derivative market at KRW 1.4259 trillion… growth of the derivative market drives the industry’s scalability

The Yuwon Golf Foundation (Chairman Young-chan Kim) and Seoul National University’s Sport Industry Research Center announced on the 23rd that they have published the ‘Korea Golf Industry White Paper 2024’ to share trends in Korea’s golf industry and present future strategies.

Published biennially since the initial study in 2016, the ‘Korea Golf Industry White Paper 2024’ (hereinafter the White Paper) marks its fifth edition this year. Centering on two years of domestic golf market data from 2022 to 2023, it analyzes the market size and value of all golf-related industry sectors, including field golf, screen golf, tournaments, equipment, facilities, and distribution.

The White Paper analyzes the golf industry according to a theoretical framework that divides it into a core market based on sports-related systems and culture, and a derivative market generated from it through various channels. Resources arising from direct participation in or spectating of golf constitute the ‘core market,’ while golf equipment, golf course operations, facility management, and the like make up the ‘derivative market.’ It further explains that the sports market is a network structure in which the core market and the derivative market create value and exchange it with one another.

According to the White Paper, Korea’s golf market in 2023 was valued at KRW 2.4433 trillion, an 8% increase from 2022 (KRW 2.0781 trillion), and the golf population was analyzed to exceed 7 million. As of 2023, the core market accounted for KRW 817.5 billion, or 36.4% of the total, while the derivative market made up 63.6%, totaling around KRW 1.4259 trillion.

In detail, within the core market as of 2023, the market for direct participation in field golf (non-event field) accounted for the largest share at 58.8%. The field golf participation market came to KRW 480.3 billion, a 7.7% decrease from 2022 (KRW 520.4 billion). Next, the screen golf participation market (non-event screen), which accounted for 28.9%, reached KRW 235.9 billion, growing approximately 7.5% from 2022 (KRW 219.4 billion) and demonstrating its capacity to absorb golf participation demand.

Key derivative markets also recorded growth. As of 2023, the overall equipment market, including driving range and screen golf facilities, reached KRW 1.1444 trillion, growing approximately 14.7% from 2022 (KRW 997.7 billion), while the tourism market expanded to around KRW 1.2410 trillion, a roughly 43.6% increase from 2022 (KRW 864.0 billion). The White Paper attributes this to the continued growth of the golf population through 2023 and the recovery of household consumption spending as the main drivers.

The spectator market, in turn, formed a market of around KRW 589.0 billion, a 13% increase from 2022 (KRW 519.0 billion). These indicators suggest that the trend of consuming golf in various ways beyond direct participation is expanding. The White Paper explains that the continued growth in market size in 2023 stemmed from the sustained expansion of screen golf participation, the equipment and tourism markets, and the spectator market, despite the contraction of the non-event participation core market.

The Korea Golf Industry White Paper 2024 was published as an e-book as part of ESG management and can be viewed on the Yuwon Golf Foundation website.

Young-chan Kim, Chairman of the Yuwon Golf Foundation, said, “The ‘Korea Golf Industry White Paper 2024’ was published to reflect broadly not only the rise and fall of market size, but also changes in consumer usage patterns and the diversification of the industry structure,” adding, “GOLFZON Group will continue its various efforts for the sustainable development of Korea’s golf industry, and we hope this White Paper will be meaningfully utilized across the industry.”

Joon-ho Kang, Director of Seoul National University’s Sport Industry Research Center, said, “As Korea’s golf industry has been analyzed on a continuous basis, the value of the time-series data on the Korean golf industry accumulated over the years has grown even greater,” adding, “We hope that the sports market value network concept, the analytical framework of the White Paper, will be applied to various sports industries and contribute to the overall development of sports in Korea.”