Kpop group BTS poses for photos as they arrive at the ‘BTS The Comeback Live Arirang’ concert in central Seoul, South Korea, on March 21, 2026.
Paper | Via Reuters
On Friday, tens of thousands of BTS fans will descend on Busan, South Korea, as the seven-member group completes its second stop in the country as part of its worldwide Arirang tour.
They will come with light sticks, banners and tickets – and money to spend.
Pop culture making an economic impact isn’t new. The term “Swiftnomics” was shortened to the influence of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which filled hotels, restaurants, and stadiums around the world.
Now, South Korean brokerage NH Securities has a term for BTS: Bangtan-nomics, a portmanteau of “Bangtan,” from the group’s name in Korean, and “economics.”
NH explained the way fans spend money in this way: online popularity first becomes streaming, albums and merchandise, before expanding to Korean beauty, food, fashion and finally tourism.
In a letter dated May 21, the brokerage said that 84% of the world’s ARMY – BTS fans are in the twelfth grade. As they grow older and gain more spending power, these fans may come to Korea and contribute to its economy through tourism.
In fact, NH predicts that by 2040, the consumption of BTS fans could contribute up to 0.35 percent annually to South Korea’s GDP.
To put a number on that, 0.35% of South Korea’s 2024 GDP is roughly $6.58 billion, according to CNBC calculations.
Some early numbers for “Bangtan-nomics” are promising. South Korean media, citing government data, said fans who attended BTS’ first concert in April were likely to stay longer and spend more money than non-concert visitors.
This is supported by a 2019 paper by Pyun Ju Hyun, a professor of international business and economics at Korea University. Pyun discovered that BTS concerts held in South Korea attract many foreign tourists, generating more income for the country.
Pyun’s paper, sent to CNBC, surveyed foreign concert attendees in Seoul, and found that 98% said they planned to visit Seoul again in the next five years. Two-thirds said they plan to revisit Seoul five or more times within the next five years.
At the concerts in Busan, the demand for accommodation increased so much that the city government had to intervene to stop price gouging among vendors and open up more places to accommodate the large number of fans.
Predictive impact
While it’s reasonable to expect BTS and the broader Hallyu wave to contribute to GDP, it’s “too simplistic” to think this trend is warranted, said Natalia Grincheva, an associate professor at Lasalle Singapore’s School of Creative Industries.
Geopolitics is one danger. In 2016, China imposed a so-called “soft ban” on Korean cultural exports after Seoul deployed the US THAAD anti-ballistic missile system, limiting the performance of K-pop groups in mainland China.
Also, fan behavior is primarily driven by emotional attachment, which is inherently unstable, Grincheva said.
“[While NH’s] model provides sound guidance, any reliable forecast must deal with these indirect, confounding factors rather than assuming a smooth economic pipeline from youth activity to elderly spending,” he said.
However, that doesn’t mean that Bangtan-nomics are being considered.
Along with South Korean film, television, beauty and food, it can contribute to long-term economic power, according to Jonathan McClory, managing partner at Sanctuary Counsel and a soft power expert.
BTS is “a very successful part of a very successful ecosystem,” he said.
