A record 1.17 million foreigners traveled to South Korea for medical treatment last year, surpassing 1 million for the first time. More than half sought dermatology services, with Japanese nationals being the largest group.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare on April 2, 1,170,467 foreign patients received treatment in South Korea last year, nearly doubling from 605,768 in 2023. These were non-resident foreign nationals who are not covered by South Korea’s national health insurance system.
Since South Korea began welcoming foreign patients in 2009, the number has steadily risen—from 60,201 that year to nearly 500,000 in 2019. However, the COVID-19 pandemic caused a sharp decline to 117,069 in 2020. The trend has since reversed, with annual figures nearly doubling since 2022.
Foreign patients came from 202 countries last year. Japan accounted for the largest share, with 441,112 visitors (37.7%), followed by China (260,641, or 22.3%), the United States (101,733, or 8.7%), Taiwan (80,346, or 7.1%), and Thailand (38,152, or 3.3%). Taiwan saw the sharpest increase, with patient numbers surging more than fivefold from 2023.
Most foreign patients sought dermatology treatment, with 705,044 (56.6%)—nearly three times the 239,060 recorded in 2023 and surpassing the total number of foreign patients that year. Plastic surgery followed with 141,845 patients (11.4%), followed by internal medicine (124,085, or 10.0%) and health check-ups (55,762, or 4.5%). A ministry official attributed the surge in dermatology and plastic surgery visits to the global popularity of Korean cosmetics and beauty treatments.
The majority of foreign patients (82%) visited private clinics, while 6% sought treatment at general hospitals and 5.1% at tertiary hospitals. While clinic visits more than doubled, visits to general and tertiary hospitals declined by 14.4% and 7.6%, respectively.
Seoul was the top destination for medical tourism, attracting 999,642 foreign patients (85.4%), largely due to its high concentration of dermatology and plastic surgery clinics. Meanwhile, Jeju recorded the highest growth rate, with the number of foreign patients more than tripling from 6,823 in 2023 to 21,901 last year.
