From Japan to Greater China and Southeast Asia… the expansion of K-pop girl groups proven by numbers
“Foreign members” were no longer symbolic… the winning formula of female K-pop artists in 2025
On top of a dense fandom map spanning Japan, Greater China, and Southeast Asia, K-pop girl groups have become more than simply popular acts. They have now established themselves as a central axis of the industry, carefully designing cultural points of connection in each region.

 

Chapter 3 of Hanteo Chart’s annual report, Hanteo Rewind, released on the 17th and titled “K-pop Women Power Conquering Asia,” examined the growth and achievements of female K-pop artists in 2025 through data.

 

What makes this report particularly interesting is that it no longer treats the presence of foreign members as merely symbolic. They are no longer decorative elements representing a team’s global identity, but are instead interpreted as key drivers of fandom consolidation and actual consumption in specific regions.

 

For TWICE, members from Japan and Greater China translated into enormous ticket power. For (G)I-DLE, members from Thailand and Greater China helped form the core markets for album sales. aespa and IVE demonstrated a balanced growth formula across Japan, Greater China, and the rest of Asia, while Hearts2Hearts showed how the Southeast Asian market embraces the next generation of mega rookies.

 

► A Concentration of 910,000 Audience Members… TWICE’s “Ticket Power” Connecting Japan and Greater China


The most powerful keyword that still defines TWICE is “command over the stage.” In 2025, TWICE attracted a total of 918,704 audience members through 29 performances in 15 cities across 11 countries. Of these, approximately 78.8%—or 724,209 people—were concentrated in Japan and Greater China. This clearly showed not only the size of the group’s fandom, but also the strength of its mobilizing power in specific regions.

 

This achievement is also closely tied to the group’s member composition. MISAMO, the unit made up of the Japanese members, drew 98,000 people to its Tokyo Dome concerts, while Tzuyu’s presence extended to a performance at Kaohsiung National Stadium in Taiwan. TWICE is not simply a team loved across Asia; it is closer to a case of a group that has created the feeling of being embraced as “our team” in each region. Their 2025 album sales of 1,136,367 copies and sales in 96 countries also demonstrate both the breadth and density of this fandom.

 

After dominating Asia in 2025, TWICE is continuing its global expansion this year with a large-scale North American tour.

 

► 81.7% of Sales Concentrated in Thailand and Greater China… (G)I-DLE Expands Member Narratives into the Market


One of (G)I-DLE’s greatest strengths is that the individual cultural backgrounds of its members are directly connected to the team’s performance. According to the report, 81.7% of the group’s overseas album sales came from Thailand and Greater China. This means that the lineup of Minnie, Yuqi, and Shuhua did not merely remain a global image, but actually transformed local fandom cohesion into purchasing power.

 

Their achievements were also clear. In 2025, (G)I-DLE recorded album sales of 1,837,433 copies on Hanteo, and even won the Grand Prize in the Digital Music category at the 32nd Hanteo Music Awards. Added to this was the symbolic feat of becoming the first K-pop girl group to sell out Taipei Dome. The group’s 2025 became a representative example of just how powerful a “global member combination” can be as a regional expansion strategy.

 

► 9.73 Million Digital Score… aespa Completes the Balance of Streaming, Albums, and Touring


aespa was one of the teams that achieved the most balanced results in the girl group market in 2025. Backed by the success of songs such as “Whiplash” and “Supernova,” the group recorded a Hanteo digital score of 9,730,229, while album sales reached 2,099,941 copies. This clearly confirmed a structure in which both public popularity and fandom power were working at the same time.

 

Their tour performance also cannot be overlooked. aespa attracted 405,544 audience members through 35 performances in 21 cities. In particular, Japanese concerts accounted for a large share of the schedule, and 64.7% of overseas album sales came from Japan and Greater China. This was the result of the symbolism and market affinity of Japanese member Giselle and Chinese member Ningning aligning with the team’s broader expansion potential.

 

aespa’s 2025 showed not just a “team with a strong concept,” but an evolution into a major intellectual property capable of dominating digital music, albums, and live performances alike.

 

► 2.46 Million Albums Sold… IVE Expands Across Asia Through Japan
IVE was the girl group that showed the strongest album sales performance among K-pop girl groups in 2025. Selling more than 2,468,408 albums in total, the group recorded the highest sales among girl groups, while its digital score also exceeded 7.4 million points. In this sense, IVE’s stature as a team that has secured both fandom and public appeal became even clearer.

 

What stood out in particular was its Asia expansion strategy centered on Japan. Of the group’s 16 total performances, 11 were held in Japan, and 66.5% of the total audience was also concentrated there. It was also impressive that 97.9% of overseas album sales came from 11 countries across Asia. For IVE, Japan was not merely an overseas market, but a strategic base from which to spread influence across Asia. The presence of Japanese member Rei strengthened the team’s local affinity at the center of that strategy.

 

► A Mega Rookie Chosen by Southeast Asia… Hearts2Hearts’ Rapid Settlement


Hearts2Hearts was the team that showed the most “new growth formula” in this report. Among debut girl groups in 2025, it recorded the highest digital score at 1.61 million points, along with album sales of 828,165 copies, instantly rising into the ranks of mega rookies. These are extraordinary numbers for a rookie group.

 

Behind this growth was the explosive response of Southeast Asian fandoms. In the rookie award voting for the Hanteo Music Awards 2025, 68% of all votes came from six Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia accounting for 24%, Vietnam 19.3%, and the Philippines 17%. The identity of the team as one that includes Indonesian member Carmen went beyond simple buzz and was directly linked to actual fandom formation and consumption.

 

Hearts2Hearts is now no longer just a “promising prospect,” but rather a symbolic team that shows how strategically K-pop is viewing Southeast Asia.

 

► The Winning Formula of Female K-pop Artists in 2025 Was “Precision Localization”


In the end, the conclusion presented by “Chapter 3: K-pop Women Power Conquering Asia” is simple. The growth of female artists in 2025 was not the result of any one team’s solo dominance, but the sum of increasingly sophisticated localization strategies carried out in different ways. TWICE found its answer through ticket power, (G)I-DLE through member-based regional concentration, aespa through balance across all sectors, IVE through Asia-centered expansion, and Hearts2Hearts through targeting Southeast Asia.

 

The keyword running through this report is not simply “the rise of female artists.” More accurately, it is closer to a detailed blueprint showing how K-pop girl groups are now taking root in the Asian market, and by what methods they are transforming country-specific fandoms into industrial performance. The K-pop women power of 2025 was not a victory of instinct, but a victory of structure. And that structure is already being proven by numbers.