Korea's bio-health industry generated 143.55 trillion won ($106 billion) in revenue in 2024, up 7.6% from the previous year, according to a survey released Tuesday.
The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) announced the findings of its bio-health industry survey, which covered 18,405 companies as of 2024. The survey examined the pharmaceutical, medical device, and cosmetics sectors, excluding health functional foods.
By sector, pharmaceuticals accounted for the largest share of total revenue at 55.13 trillion won, up 3.9%, followed by cosmetics at 48.50 trillion won, up 14.6%, and medical devices at 39.92 trillion won, up 5.2%.
Total employment in the bio-health industry reached 358,385, a 1.6% increase from the previous year. Cosmetics employed the most workers at 133,244, up 0.7%, followed by medical devices at 118,346, up 0.04%, and pharmaceuticals at 106,795, up 4.6%.
Research and development spending in 2024 rose 14.3% from 2023 to 8.54 trillion won, equivalent to 5.9% of total revenue. By sector, pharmaceutical R&D reached 4.54 trillion won, up 8.8%, medical device R&D was 2.48 trillion won, up 24.3%, and cosmetics R&D totaled 1.51 trillion won, up 16.3%.
"We hope the survey results will serve as key foundational data supporting national strategy formulation and corporate growth," said Lee Byung-kwan, head of KHIDI's Bio-Health Innovation Planning Division. "We will continue to develop customized statistics that proactively reflect future industry changes."
