The South Korea anti-obesity drugs market size stood at around USD 118.9 million in 2019 and is projected to reach xx million by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of around xx% during the forecast period.

Obesity is a medical condition in which excess body fat get saturated into human body to the level that it may have adverse impact on health. Anti-obesity drugs contain certain pharmacological ingredient intended to reduce or control weight. Regulation of body weight is controlled by the brain cells which uses a variety of neuropeptides and transmitters and are responsive to endocrine and metabolic signals. Targeting these cells with novel pharmaceutical drugs is the basic way of controlling obesity. Medically anti-obesity drugs are prescribed only in cases of morbid obesity, where weight loss is lifesaving.

According to 2019 Obesity Fact Sheet released by the Korean Society for Study of Obesity, from 2009 to 2018, the prevalence of obesity and abdominal obesity increased to 35.7% and 23.8% respectively.



Market Drivers

Obesity rates in Korea are among the lowest in the OECD but have been increasing steadily. About 4% of the adult population is obese in Korea, and about 30% are overweight (including obese). OECD projections indicate that overweight rates will increase by a further 5% within ten years. This increase in the obesity population is expected to drive the demand for anti-obesity drugs in the near future. Changing lifestyle, decrease in exercise practice, consumption of cholesterol rich and packed food are some of the other potential market drivers.

Side effects such as the risk of psychiatric disorder, stroke is expected to impact the market growth over the forecast period negatively.