Impact

With the release of their debut studio album in 2013, Exo became the first South Korean artists in 12 years to sell over one million copies of an album; the previous artist prior to reach this milestone was g.o.d, in 2001. In 2018, Exo became “quintuple million sellers”, meaning the band has sold over one million copies apiece for five different albums. Following the release of their 5th studio album, Don’t Mess Up My Tempo, Exo became the first South Korean artist who debuted in the 21st century to sell 10 million albums cumulatively.

Exo have also contributed significantly to the financial success of their management agency, SM Entertainment. In the fourth quarter of 2018, Sm Entertainment recorded the largest ever quarterly profit for any South Korean entertainment company at $13.4 million. The SM artist generating the highest revenue was Exo, at 31% of the total $188 million-fourth quarter revenue.

Exo have been described as "the biggest boy band in the world". They have gained immense popularity in South Korea, and were named by Forbes on the Korea Power Celebrity list as the most powerful celebrities in South Korea for 2015 and 2016; within the top five for 2014, 2017, and 2018; and within the top 10 for 2019. They have been given a number of honorific nicknames such as "Kings of K-Pop" by international outlets Vogue, Metro, PageOne and South Korean outlets including OBS among others. They were also named as the "Nation's pick" and the "Global pick" by South Korean media. Exo are widely esteemed as a prominent force in the Hallyu Wave, which refers to the rise and spread of Korean pop culture around the world. When discussing the significance of Exo in a global context, Bustle magazine described them as "the ultimate K-pop sensation", saying "there's really nothing quite like Exo." The group has received further attention for releasing almost all of its studio albums simultaneously in both Korean and Mandarin. Vulture described Exo as "leaders of a K-pop generation" when describing the band's ability to release music in the Korean and Chinese markets while continuing to impress in the United States with Billboard chartings and arena tours. In this regard, Dazed considered Exo's success to be that of "a continent-straddling pop juggernaut".