South Korea's payments to overseas digital service providers reached $17.33 billion in 2025, tripling over seven years as subscriptions to Netflix, YouTube, and AI tools like ChatGPT become fixed household expenses that continuously drain dollars regardless of economic conditions.
The Bank of Korea reported that digital service payments rose 12.8% from $15.36 billion in 2024, equivalent to approximately 25.4 trillion won. The central bank's digital service category includes overseas streaming platforms and AI subscription fees, which were reclassified in its services balance after ChatGPT launched paid tiers in February 2023.
The growth trajectory has been steep. Payments stood at just $5.51 billion in 2018 before climbing to $7.95 billion in 2020 amid the pandemic-driven shift to contactless consumption. The figure surged to $13.74 billion in 2023 as paid generative AI subscriptions gained traction.
Household burden is mounting rapidly. Statistics Korea's household survey shows average monthly spending on "broadcasting and audiovisual content services," which includes OTT subscriptions, reached 20,021 won in the third quarter of last year. Additional costs for generative AI services such as ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude are expected to push monthly digital platform spending higher.
The structural concern is that these payments affect exchange rates and inflation. When Korean consumers pay 14,900 won monthly for YouTube Premium, the platform converts and remits the funds in dollars to the United States, increasing dollar demand and potentially pushing the won-dollar exchange rate higher.
Overseas digital services have also been raising prices. Netflix increased its ad-supported standard plan from 5,500 won to 7,000 won per month last year. Generative AI companies facing massive investment burdens may follow suit. The BOK estimates that a 10% rise in the won-dollar exchange rate increases consumer prices by approximately 0.35 percentage points.
Price data confirms the trend. Korea's consumer price index for online content usage, with 2020 as the base year of 100, rose from 100.45 in 2021 to 111.08 in 2025. The cumulative increase of 7.7% over 2022-2025 exceeds overall consumer price inflation for the same period.
Similar patterns are emerging abroad. In the United States, OTT services are included in the "cable, satellite, and live-streaming TV services" category with a weighting of approximately 0.65%. India formally incorporated subscription content services including Netflix into its consumer price index starting in 2024.
"Telecommunications costs were not initially classified as essential spending but eventually became a key inflation variable," said Heo In, professor of economics at Catholic University of Korea. "How quickly and broadly digital services spread will become an important factor in assessing inflation going forward."