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The number of foreign medical tourists visiting South Korea exceeded 600,000 for the first time last year. By nationality, Japanese tourists made up the largest cohort among them. Over half of the medical tourists came to South Korea to receive plastic surgery or dermatological treatments.

According to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Monday, South Korean medical institutions treated 605,768 (excluding repeated visits) foreign nationals last year. This is an increase of 2.4 fold (144.2%) compared to 2022. 

The increase is likely attributable to the relaxation of travel restrictions that were implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the Health Ministry began collecting data on medical tourism in 2009, the number of international tourists visiting South Korea for medical purposes steadily increased every year, reaching 497,464 in 2019. Due to travel restrictions in the wake of the pandemic, however, the figure decreased to 117,069 in 2020. 

A medical tourist is defined as a foreign national who receives treatment who is not covered by Korea’s single-payer health insurance, whether a beneficiary or a dependent. Screenings to detect COVID-19, remote treatments, or instances of having one’s prescription filled by someone else were excluded from the statistics.

A total of 198 nationalities were represented in the statistics. Japanese patients made up 31% of the total, making it the largest cohort. Last year was the first time that Japanese patients constituted the majority of medical tourists. 

In second place were Chinese patients (18.5%), followed by Americans (12.7%), Thais (5.1%), and Mongolians (3.6%). Taiwanese patients (2.1%) represented the largest increase from 2022. It was also the year that saw the most Taiwanese patients since Korea began collecting relevant data.

Over half of the medical tourists received treatments in dermatology (35.2%) or plastic surgery (16.8%). The number of foreign patients receiving dermatological treatments, traditional Korean medicine treatments, and general health screenings multiplied by factors of 2.6 to 6.6 since 2022.

By Son Ji-min, staff reporter

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