South Korea's exports of cosmetics continued their upside mode in the first three months of the year on strong global demand, the latest customs data showed Thursday.

Outbound shipments of South Korea-made beauty products were valued at $935 million in the January-March period, up 32.1 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by the Korea Customs Service.

Exports to China rose 26.7 percent on-year to $337 million over the three-month period, despite Beijing's recent movement to restrict imports from South Korea in retaliation against Seoul's plan to deploy the US-led missile defense system, or THAAD.

For all of 2016, cosmetics exports surged 40.7 percent on-year to a record $3.45 billion, far outnumbering imports of $1.1 billion.

Exports of skincare products, such as toners, facial mask sheets and serums, reached $1.68 billion last year, while those of makeup goods, including sun blocks, BB creams and foundations, totaled $342 million.

By country, China bought $1.24 billion worth of South Korean cosmetics last year, up 25 percent from a year ago, while the United States and Japan imported $298 million and $155 million, respectively. (Yonhap)