Press Releases
Ministry of Health and Welfare
Apr 29,2026
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW, Minister Jeong Eun Kyeong) announced that 2.01 million foreign patients visited Korea in 2025, with total patient visits reaching 2.72 million. This marks the first time the annual figure has exceeded 2 million since Korea began compiling statistics on foreign patients in 2009.
The number of foreign patients grew steadily from 2009 to 2019, at an average annual growth rate of 23.5%, before dropping sharply to 120,000 in 2020 due to the impact of COVID-19. Since then, the figure has continued to recover, reaching 610,000 in 2023, 1.17 million in 2024, and 2.01 million in 2025. This represents a near doubling each year for three consecutive years after the pandemic, setting a new all-time high in each of those years. The cumulative number of unique foreign patients since statistics began in 2009 has now reached 7.06 million.
[Analysis of Foreign Patient Inflows in 2025]
By nationality: In 2025, foreign patients from 201 countries visited Korea. The largest numbers came from China, followed by Japan, Taiwan, the United States, and Thailand.
Overall: China and Japan accounted for 60.6% of all foreign patients, or 1.219 million people. They were followed by Taiwan with 9.2%, or 186,000 patients, and the United States with 8.6%, or 173,000 patients.
East Asia: China ranked first among all countries, while Taiwan recorded 186,000 patients, up 122.5% from 2024.
- In particular, China (up 137.5%) and Taiwan (up 122.5%) each more than doubled from the previous year, recording the highest growth rates. This appears to reflect a combination of factors, including rising demand for aesthetic and non-surgical medical services, particularly in dermatology; the visa-free entry policy for Chinese tourists; expanded flights, and the recovery of tourism demand.
* A temporary 15-day visa-free entry for group tourists has been introduced for the period from September 2025 to June 2026; visa-free entry to Jeju has been in place since 2002.
- According to the 2025 Survey on Global Awareness of Korean Medical Services Korea Health Industry Development Institute (2025). 2025 Survey on Global Awareness of Korean Medical Services (sample survey of 7,100 general consumers in 25 cities across 16 countries), Korea ranked first in cosmetics among 12 leading countries in the biohealth industry for the second consecutive year. This strong favorability toward Korean cosmetics among foreign consumers is also believed to have contributed to the rise in visits to Korea.
* Korea’s ranking in perceived cosmetics industry leadership: 3rd (2023) → 1st (2024) → 1st (2025)
Americas: The United States recorded 173,000 patients, up 70.4% from 2024, while Canada recorded 24,000 patients, up 59.1%. For both countries, these figures mark the highest number of patients traveling to Korea since 2009.
- The United States, in particular, showed a more diversified pattern of medical service use: rather than being concentrated in dermatology and plastic surgery alone, U.S. patient visits were spread across dermatology (44.3%), integrated internal medicine (13.2%), and plastic surgery (9.3%), respectively.
Southeast Asia: Thailand ranked fifth with 58,000 patients, up 52.3% from the previous year. Singapore ranked sixth with 43,000 patients, up 62.1%; Indonesia ranked 10th with 21,000 patients, up 104.6%; and Malaysia ranked 14th with 12,000 patients, up 106.8%. Indonesia and Malaysia recorded the highest year-on-year growth rates among Southeast Asian countries.
- The increase was particularly strong among foreign patients visiting dermatology and plastic surgery departments. Compared with the previous year, Thailand recorded increases of 62% in dermatology and 140.9% in plastic surgery, while Singapore recorded increases of 56.9% in dermatology and 280.1% in plastic surgery.
Russia and Central Asia: This region recorded lower growth rates than other regions. Russia fell from 9th to 11th place, with 20,000 patients, up 21.9% from the previous year, while Kazakhstan moved from 11th to 13th place, with 15,000 patients, up 4.9%.
- Russian patients previously visited Korea mainly for internal medicine and health checkups, but in 2025, dermatology was the leading department. Kazakhstan recorded the lowest year-on-year growth rate among the top 15 countries at 4.9%, with patient visits remaining concentrated in internal medicine and health checkups.
* Russia, by department: dermatology (5,641 patients), integrated internal medicine (5,550 patients), health checkup centers (3,114 patients)
* Kazakhstan, by department: integrated internal medicine (7,741 patients), health checkup centers (5,416 patients), dermatology (1,736 patients)
By medical department: Dermatology accounted for the largest share among all departments, with 1.313 million patients, or 62.9% of the total. It was followed by plastic surgery with 233,000 patients, or 11.2%; integrated internal medicine with 192,000 patients, or 9.2%; and health checkup centers with 65,000 patients, or 3.1%.
Compared with 2024, the highest growth rates were recorded in dermatology, up 86.2%; dentistry, up 79.0%; plastic surgery, up 64.3%; obstetrics and gynecology, up 62.6%; and integrated internal medicine, up 54.9%.
* Patient count by department: If one patient visited multiple departments, the patient was counted once for each department visited.
By type of medical institution: Foreign patients most frequently visited clinics, which accounted for 87.7% of the total, followed by general hospitals at 3.6% and tertiary hospitals at 3.0%.
In terms of growth rate, the number of patients visiting dental clinics rose the most, by 128.9% from the previous year. Clinics, Korean medicine hospitals, and hospitals also recorded high growth rates of 83.9%, 65.7%, and 44.2%, respectively. Dental hospitals*, by contrast, recorded a 4.5% decrease from the previous year.
Foreign patient bed occupancy rates at tertiary and general hospitals remained below 1%, well within the statutory limits of 5% and 8%, respectively, under the Act on Supporting of Overseas Expansion of Medical Services and Attraction of International Patients.
By region: Seoul attracted 1.76 million foreign patients, accounting for 87.2% of the total. Busan followed with 3.8%, Gyeonggi-do with 2.7%, Jeju with 2.3%, and Incheon with 1.3%.
This appears to reflect the heavy presence in Seoul of medical institutions registered to treat foreign patients, with 2,555 institutions in 2025, or 62.5% of the total. Seoul also offers strong accessibility due to its concentration of transport, tourism, and medical infrastructure, while the recent increase in demand for dermatology services also appears to have further reinforced Seoul’s dominance.
Outside the capital region, Busan recorded the highest growth rate at 151.5%, followed by Jeju at 114.7% and Daegu at 31.4%.
Medical revenue: According to an analysis by the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade (KIET),* foreign patients who visited Korea in 2025 and their companions spent a total of KRW 12.5 trillion (approximately USD 8.4 billion), of which KRW 3.3 trillion (approximately USD 2.2 billion) went to medical services. This is estimated to have generated KRW 10.5 trillion (approximately USD 7.1 billion) in value added and KRW 22.8 trillion (approximately USD 15.4 billion) in domestic production.
* Source: KIET (Senior Research Fellow Lee Dong-hee), Analysis of the Economic Impact of Foreign Patient Attraction in 2025, April 2026
Jeong Eun-young, Director General for Health Industry Policy, stated, “With Korea attracting a record 2.01 million foreign patients in 2025, the country has now firmly established itself as Asia’s medical tourism hub, drawing more than 1 million foreign patients each year. Last year’s growth appears to have been driven by several key factors, including the visa-free policy for Chinese visitors, VAT refunds for cosmetic and plastic surgery procedures, and the global spread of K-pop, K-beauty, and Korean cultural content.”
She added, “In an era where annual inflows of more than 1 million foreign patients have become the new normal, we will build a sustainable industry ecosystem and lay a stronger foundation for growth, advancing both the quality and competitiveness of Korea’s medical tourism industry. As we continue to expand foreign patient attraction, we will also maintain close monitoring to ensure that domestic patients’ access to medical care is not compromised.”
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