South Korea's cheese imports jumped this year on the back of continued demand for foreign brands, customs data showed Monday.

Cheese imports increased 16 percent from a year earlier to 232 million U.S. dollars for the January-July period, according to the Korea Customs Service (KCS).

Dairy product imports in South Korea continued to grow amid robust demand for foreign brands. The nation's cheese imports surged 36 percent in 2010 and 38 percent in 2011 each.

Cheese imported from the United States accounted for 40.9 percent of the total this year, followed those from New Zealand with a 29 percent share and Australia with 7.9 percent.

Meanwhile, powdered milk imports declined 5.9 percent to 66 million dollars over the cited period. Butter imports dropped 34.1 percent to 15 million dollars.