Report Overview

The South Korea pharmaceutical market size stood at around USD 21.47 billion in 2019 and is projected to reach xx billion by 2028, exhibiting a CAGR of xx% during the forecast period.

According to the OECD, South Korea's gross healthcare spending in 2018 amounted to nearly 8.1% of Korea's GDP. Healthcare expenditure has grown at an even faster pace than GDP.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) South Koreas pharmaceutical market size was approximately USD 21.47 billion in 2019, which is 5.2% more from 2018. Koreas pharmaceutical market in 2019 was mainly characterized by an increased share of finished drug manufacturing and domestic production of new drugs; a steady growth of drug exports; the growth of the domestic biopharmaceutical market, the expansion of exports focused on biosimilars; and a continued rise in drug imports. The share of finished drug products rose 87.5% in 2015 to 88.9% in 2019.

The export amount of pharmaceuticals increased to USD 5,195.15 million, hitting a record high and up by 11.2% compared to USD 4,673.11 million in 2018. The annual average export growth rate has remained high with 15.2% in the last 5 years.



Market Drivers

During the forecasted period major driver for pharmaceutical industry would be the aging population and rising life expectancy.

Furthermore, government has increased the spending on R&D they are focusing on new medicines and Bio- similars which is also boosting the market growth. Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) in a recent report mentioned that, a total of 46 research and development based Korean drug manufacturers recently identified as revolutionary pharmaceutical organizations by the Health Ministry of Korea, which will enhance R&D spending by 2020. In fact, Korea has the potential to perform medicines R&D for molecules and industrial innovations, agents, including organic synthesis, and multinational clinical trials. This potential has been achieved by the advancement of generic drugs. Korea is already a pioneer in the field of biotechnological pharmaceutical research. Therefore, all of these variables would boost the pharmaceutical demand in the country during the forecast period.