Note №28PATIENT STATISTICS
If you are reading this site because you are considering a skin treatment in Korea, here is the single most contextualising number we can offer: last year, 2.01 million foreign patients were treated in Korea — the first time the figure has ever passed two million — and 62.9% of them, about 1.31 million people, went to a dermatology clinic.
The figures come from the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s annual count, announced in April 2026. They describe a market that has not just recovered since the pandemic but changed shape: growth is being driven almost entirely by skin, not surgery.
The numbers
| Foreign patients in Korea | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Total | 1.17 million | 2.01 million (+72%) |
| Dermatology share | 56.6% | 62.9% (1.31m) |
| Plastic surgery share | 11.4% | 11.2% (233k) |
| Treated at clinic-level institutions (의원) | 82.0% | 87.7% |
| Treated in Seoul | 85.4% | 87.2% |
By nationality, China led 2025 with 618,973 patients (up 137.5%), Japan followed with 600,009, and Taiwan — the fastest-growing sizeable group two years running — sent 185,715, up 122.5%. Reported medical spending reached ₩3.3 trillion. For scale: in the whole period 2009–2024, Korea’s cumulative count was about 5 million foreign patients; 2025 alone added another two.
What the shape of the data tells you
- You are not an edge case. Whatever nervousness you feel booking treatment abroad, the system you are entering processed two million people like you last year. Intake forms, payment flows and aftercare instructions for foreigners are now routine at the clinics doing this volume.
- The typical foreign patient is not getting surgery. Dermatology outnumbers plastic surgery nearly six to one. The representative visit is a non-surgical skin treatment at a small Seoul clinic — exactly the segment where pricing, package terms and review reliability matter most.
- Volume cuts both ways. Korea’s medical-dispute agency reported dermatology as its fastest-growing complaint category in its latest yearbook (+96.6%). More patients means more of everything — including things going wrong. Know the dispute system before you need it.
Why is the skew toward dermatology so extreme? That question deserves its own article — we look at what the numbers do and do not explain in a companion piece.
Sources and last verification
- Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2025 foreign patient statistics (announced 24 April 2026), as reported with full figures by Money Today — mt.co.kr — accessed 18 August 2026
- Ministry of Health and Welfare, 2024 foreign patient statistics (announced 2 April 2025) — medigatenews.com — accessed 18 August 2026
- Korea Medical Dispute Mediation and Arbitration Agency, 2025 statistical yearbook (dermatology complaint growth) — previously verified for our dispute-system coverage — accessed 18 August 2026
Verified 18 August 2026. Annual statistics are revised occasionally; the ministry’s releases are the primary source.
Related: those 2.01 million patients are served by a registered supply side — paid patient referral is a criminal offence in Korea, and foreign patients are the only carve-out.
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