Korea's Drug Distribution Hits 108 Trillion Won, Up 7.4%

Korea's pharmaceutical distribution reached 108 trillion won last year, an increase of more than 7 trillion won from the previous year.

The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) said Wednesday that it had published the "2025 Finished Pharmaceutical Distribution Statistics," which contains key statistics on domestic production, imports, and supply of finished pharmaceuticals. According to the compilation, total pharmaceutical distribution in 2025 amounted to 108 trillion won, up 7.4% (7.5 trillion won) from a year earlier. Pharmaceutical distribution has continued its recent upward trend, rising from 94.7 trillion won in 2023 to 100.5 trillion won in 2024. The distribution figure represents the combined supply value across all distribution stages, including direct transactions between pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions as well as supply through wholesalers.

By supplier, wholesalers accounted for 59.9 trillion won, or about 55.5% of the entire market, followed by manufacturers at 34.5 trillion won (31.9%) and importers at 13.6 trillion won (12.6%).

Production value stood at 28.5247 trillion won, up about 3.3% (900 billion won) from the previous year, while import value rose to 9.4019 trillion won, an increase of 14% (1.1532 trillion won) from a year earlier.

Of the distribution total, the amount supplied to medical institutions was 43.7 trillion won, up 7.9% (3.2 trillion won) from the previous year, of which reimbursable drugs accounted for 35 trillion won, or 80.2%.

By type of medical institution, pharmacies accounted for 26.7 trillion won, or 61.1%, followed by general hospitals at 10 trillion won (22.8%), clinics at 4.1 trillion won (9.4%), and hospitals at 2.3 trillion won (5.3%).

"Interest in and demand for the use of domestic finished pharmaceutical distribution information is growing," HIRA President Hong Seung-kwon said. "We will continue to ensure that such statistics can be used as foundational data to help understand the trends and detailed conditions of the pharmaceutical distribution market."