Number of International Patients to Rebound to 50% of Pre-Pandemic Levels
- Regdate2023-05-03 13:25
- Hit2,207
Number of International Patients to Rebound
to 50% of Pre-Pandemic Levels
- The number of international patients rose by 70.1% YOY to 248,000 in 2022 -
<Summary>
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Cho, KyooHong) said the number of international patients treated in Korea rose by 70.1% from 146,000 in 2021 to 248,000 in 2022.
☞ An “international patient” is a patient of foreign nationality who is neither a policyholder nor dependent under the National Health Insurance Act, excluding foreigners who reside in the Republic of Korea with their residence registered or reported in Korea (Article 2 of the Act on Supporting of Overseas Expansion of Medical Services and Attraction of International Patients)
- The statistics on international patients (actual number of patients treated) are reported to the Ministry of Health and Welfare (hereinafter MOHW) by the end of March each year
The number of international patients has rebounded to 50% of that of 2019 when it peaked at 497,000 before the outbreak of COVID-19. The cumulative number of international patients has reached 3.27 million since Korea started to actively attracting international patients.
The number of international patients steadily increased to 497,000 in 2019 despite external variables before it plunged to 120,000 in 2020. It is gradually increasing again owing to the ease of the quarantine rules, including a simplified entry policy and a rising vaccination rate.
* The number of international patients is based on the number of actual patients except a patient’s revisits and multiple medical treatments.
** Figures on international patients have been collected and provided by medical institutions and international patient promotion agencies under Article 11 of the “Act on Supporting of Overseas Expansion of Medical Services and Attraction of International Patients.”
MOHW established the “2nd Comprehensive Plan for the Support of Overseas Expansion of Medical Services and Attraction of International Patients*” in March 2022 to facilitate the attraction of international patients whose number has sharply declined since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and has been implementing key tasks by making an action plan each year according to the schedule.
* Three key strategies and seven major tasks to attract 500,000 international patients by 2026
<3 Key Strategies & 7 Major Tasks>
① Create new markets for industry convergence
- Develop forward-looking projects, promote Korean-style future medical services, and support win-win growth of related industries
② Build an ecosystem for sustainable growth
- Advance infrastructure and improve competencies, and expand user-customized support
③ Expand the global presence of Korean medical services
- Bolster the status of Medical Korea and expand global medical training programs
Eun-young Jung, Director General for the Bureau of Health Industry, MOHW, said, “International patient attraction is an area with high-growth potential given the rising global demand* for medical services, and is also a critical industry that can raise Korea’s global profile and create added value in partnership with other industries. The government will leverage the strong global competitiveness of Korea’s medical services to ascend as a medical services powerhouse in Asia.”
* Global medical tourism market: Approx. KRW 109 trillion (USD 82.0 billion) in 2020 → approx. KRW 240 trillion (USD 182.0 billion) in 2025, expected an average annual growth rate of 9.7% (Glasgow Research & Consulting Report, August 2022)
Jung emphasized, “We will conduct a comprehensive statistical analysis and patient satisfaction survey based on the recently compiled international patient data to lay the foundation to consistently promote international patient attraction.” ///
★(MOHW) Number of International Patients to Rebound to 50% of Pre-Pandemic Levels.pdf