Number of pharmaceutical manufacturers South Korea 2012-2022
In 2022, South Korea’s expanding pharmaceutical industry supported 653 manufacturers. The manufacturing sector declined in the early 2010s but has recently picked up again. Seoul, Gyeonggi (Gyeonggi Province), and Chungbuk (North Chungcheong Province) have emerged as the main hubs for pharmaceutical producers.
Pharmaceutical market growth and spending
The South Korean pharmaceutical market has shown remarkable growth in recent years. In 2022, the pharmaceutical industry's market size reached approximately 29.9 trillion South Korean won, up from 19.2 trillion won a decade earlier. This growth is reflected in the country's pharmaceutical spending, which was estimated at 1.6 percent of the total GDP in 2023. On a per capita basis, pharmaceutical spending in South Korea was forecast to reach around 718 U.S. dollars by 2023, representing a substantial increase of over 223.5 percent since 2000.
The South Korean pharmaceutical industry in a global context
South Korea's pharmaceutical industry operates within a growing global market, which was estimated at 1.6 trillion dollars in 2023. The COVID-19 pandemic had a notable impact on the sector, with companies like Moderna Korea experiencing substantial revenue growth due to their involvement with producing and exporting Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine, later known as Spikevax. Pharmaceutical exports from South Korea also saw a sharp increase in March 2020, reaching over 553 million dollars as global demand surged, with another spike in December 2020 when the Spikevax vaccine was first approved. While this sector has since tapered off, South Korean pharmaceutical exports have remained higher than pre-pandemic levels.
