Last Year Domestic Health Industry Exports Decreased by 4.7%... "Impact of COVID-19 Endemic"

Government: "We Will Make Pharmaceutical and Bio Industries New Growth Engines Since Last February"
"Health Industry Will Remain Promising Even After COVID-19"

Pharmaceutical and Bio-related Image [Image Source=Yonhap News]

The export value of the healthcare industry, which had been rising steeply, slightly decreased last year due to the global transition of COVID-19 to an endemic phase. However, since the government has set a goal to make pharmaceuticals and bio industries future growth engines, the healthcare industry is expected to remain promising even after COVID-19.

According to the ‘2022 Export Performance of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Cosmetics, and other Healthcare Industries’ announced by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute on the 6th, the total export value of the healthcare industry last year was $24.2 billion, down 4.7% from the previous year.

With the global decline in the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for diagnostic reagents decreased, causing the export value of medical devices, which account for the largest share of the domestic healthcare industry, to drop 11% to $8.2 billion. Among these, exports of diagnostic reagents fell sharply by 28.1% to $3.18 billion. South Korea quickly developed COVID-19 test kits in the early stages of the pandemic and entered the global market. However, exports of other medical devices such as ultrasound imaging devices (10.4%), implants (25.1%), and radiography equipment (14.7%) continued to show growth.

Despite cost burdens and recession concerns last year, pharmaceutical exports increased by 14.8% to $8.1 billion compared to the previous year. The top pharmaceutical export item, biopharmaceuticals ($3.63 billion), saw sustained demand from European countries such as Germany and Italy, as well as Singapore, Brazil, Vietnam, and Taiwan. Biopharmaceuticals refer to medicines developed using cells, tissues, hormones, etc., derived from humans or other living organisms. Exports of vaccines produced domestically also contributed, surging 81.3% to $940 million. Last year, Australia was South Korea’s largest vaccine export market, purchasing $410 million worth of vaccines, a 346.1% increase from the previous year.

The government announced the ‘Biohealth New Market Creation Strategy’ last February, aiming to double the export value of pharmaceuticals and medical devices by 2028. This plan envisions South Korea becoming one of the world’s top six pharmaceutical and bio powers, positioning the healthcare industry as a major promising export sector domestically.

In the case of cosmetics, the share of China, South Korea’s largest export market, has decreased, while exports are increasing mainly to emerging countries such as Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand due to the spread of so-called ‘K-culture.’ Last year, cosmetics exports were recorded at $8 billion, down 13.4% from the previous year. Han Dong-woo, head of the Health Industry Innovation Planning Group at the Development Institute, said, “Although healthcare industry exports slightly declined last year due to reduced demand for quarantine supplies, the industry recorded a high export growth rate (13.2%) compared to other industries over the past five years.”

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