Cosmetic sales continue to steadily grow despite lackluster domestic demand.
 
According to Statistics Korea data, retail sales of cosmetics jumped 12-point-nine percent year-on-year in March to over one-point-73 trillion won.
 
The increase is far higher than the four-point-seven percent on-year growth for the whole of retail sales in March.
 
The near 13 percent growth is the highest since April 2015 when 13-point-four percent was posted.
 
The year-on-year growth of cosmetics sales has been on the rise since last September but the growth rates remained in the three to five percent range through December.
 
The figure topped ten percent in January, dropped to five percent the following month but picked up again from March.
 
Experts attribute the strong sales to the Hallyu or Korean Wave boom including the huge success of the KBS drama "Descendants of the Sun."