South Korea's imports of chocolate edged up on-year to an all-time high in 2015 amid its growing popularity among local consumers, official data showed Sunday.

The country imported 31,066 tons of chocolate and chocolate confectionery last year, up 1.3 percent from the previous year and the highest amount ever, according to the data by state-run Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corp.

It was up a whopping 47.1 percent from 2010 and roughly double the amount in 2000.

The value of the chocolate imports also rose to $211 million last year from $122 million in 2010 and $87.4 million in 2000.

Last year, the United States was the largest chocolate exporter to South Korea with 6,235 tons, followed by China with 4,931 tons, Singapore with 3,145 tons and Belgium with 2,798 tons.

Imports from the U.S. declined 12 percent last year from 2010, while shipments from China soared 6.6 times over the cited period according to the data. (Yonhap)