84.3% of Korean Medicine Hospitals and Clinics Report Customer Drop Due to COVID-19

KIOM Announces Results of the '2020 Hanbang Medicine Industry Survey'

Herbal Medicine Image

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-su] The Korean medicine industry has steadily grown, surpassing a total sales volume of 10 trillion won, but it has recently been facing severe difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the '2020 Korean Medicine Industry Survey' released on the 8th by the Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, the total sales volume of businesses related to Korean medicine manufacturing, retail, and healthcare industries was recorded at 10.363 trillion won as of the end of December 2019. Since the survey began in 2013, the industry has steadily grown, surpassing the 10 trillion won mark for the first time.

By year, the sales figures showed an increasing trend: 8.0266 trillion won in 2013, 8.2044 trillion won in 2015, and 9.4282 trillion won in 2017. By sector, healthcare increased by 16.3% (911.6 billion won) and manufacturing by 1.4% (52.4 billion won) compared to 2017, while retail decreased by 19.1% (29.3 billion won). The number of workers in the Korean medicine industry also steadily increased to 115,374 as of the end of December 2019, up from 98,358 in 2013, 106,481 in 2015, and 108,746 in 2017.

The number of Korean medicine-related companies remained stagnant. As of the end of December 2019, there were 29,450 companies, a 0.1% (29 companies) decrease compared to two years prior. Due to increased demand from an aging population, the number of healthcare providers such as Korean medicine hospitals and clinics rose by 3.2% (477 companies), but the number of related pharmaceutical and product manufacturers decreased by 3.3% (430 companies), and retail businesses declined by 4.0% (76 companies).

However, despite this growth trend, Korean medicine-related companies have recently been experiencing significant difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The survey showed that 84.3% of respondents reported worsened business conditions compared to the previous year, a 30.4% increase from 53.9% the year before. Manufacturing companies cited continuous discovery of demand sources (40.1%) as a major challenge, retail businesses pointed to difficulties in procuring herbal medicines and rising prices (30.2%), and healthcare providers identified excessive competition among hospitals and clinics (47.5%) as key management difficulties.

Essential factors for the growth of the Korean medicine industry were identified as building trust with customers (38.4%) and government support (36.5%). Areas requiring investment and development in Korean medicine research and development (R&D) included Korean medicine diagnostics (34.5%), drug therapy (29.0%), and non-drug therapy (20.9%), in that order.

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