[2020 National Audit] Male Infertility Greatly Increased... 47% Surge in 5 Years

Number of Patients per 100,000: Sejong, Seoul, Jeju in Order... "Tailored Support Needed"

Sperm and egg. Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The number of men receiving treatment for infertility has surged by 47% over the past five years, while the number of women has actually decreased by 10%.

According to data submitted by the National Health Insurance Service to In Jae-geun, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, during the recent five-year period (2015?2019), a total of 1,097,144 people received treatment for infertility, with medical expenses reaching approximately 371.4 billion KRW. The number of patients receiving infertility treatment increased by about 4%, from 216,063 in 2015 to 224,743 in 2019.

The increase in the number of patients was particularly noticeable among men. The number of male patients rose from 53,980 in 2015 to 79,251 in 2019, an increase of about 47% over five years. In contrast, the number of female patients decreased by about 10%, from 162,083 to 145,492 during the same period. When converted to the number of patients per 100,000 people, the figure for men increased by 44%, from 213 in 2015 to 307 in 2019, while for women it decreased by 12%, from 645 to 568.

As of last year, the average medical expense per patient was 126,000 KRW for men and 870,000 KRW for women, which represents a 1.94-fold and 5.61-fold increase respectively compared to 2015. This significant rise in medical expenses is attributed to the recent expansion of government support for infertility and assisted reproductive treatments.

Age group analysis shows that, as of last year, the largest number of patients for both men and women were in their 30s. However, compared to 2015, the proportion of patients in their 30s decreased by 5.74 percentage points for men and 2.51 percentage points for women in the total number of patients. Instead, the proportion of patients in their 40s increased by 6.55 percentage points for men and 5.62 percentage points for women.

By region, Sejong City had the highest number of patients per 100,000 people last year, with 707 patients combining both men and women nationwide. Seoul (534) and Jeju (509) followed. Regarding medical expenses per patient by region, Seoul had the highest cost for men at 144,000 KRW, while Daejeon had the lowest at 84,000 KRW. For women, Ulsan had the highest cost at 1,341,000 KRW, and Daegu had the lowest at 612,000 KRW.

Assemblyman In said, "The recent five-year infertility treatment status shows differences by gender, age group, and region, revealing patterns different from the past," adding, "Government support for infertility and assisted reproduction should be a key part of low birthrate countermeasures and must be tailored through detailed analysis."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.