Pharmaceutical Exports Surpass $10 Billion for the First Time Last Year... Record High Production Reaches KRW 33 Trillion

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Reports Record-High Trade Surplus of USD 1.5 Billion

Biopharmaceutical Production Reaches KRW 7 Trillion, Exports Hit USD 7.6 Billion

Biosimilars Drive Sector Growth

Last year, South Korea's pharmaceutical exports surpassed 10 billion dollars for the first time, and the trade balance surplus also reached an all-time high.

According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on July 2, domestic pharmaceutical production in the previous year increased by 3.0% compared to the year before, reaching 3.38466 trillion won, the highest figure ever since the relevant statistics began to be compiled.

This level of pharmaceutical production accounted for 1.27% of South Korea’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 4.63% of manufacturing GDP. Over the past five years, the average annual growth rate stood at 7.3%, outpacing the GDP growth rate of 4.6% for the same period.

The scale of domestic pharmaceutical production has steadily expanded, from 2.54906 trillion won in 2021, to 2.89503 trillion won in 2022, 3.06396 trillion won in 2023, 3.28629 trillion won in 2024, and 3.38466 trillion won in 2025.

Among pharmaceuticals, finished products accounted for 87.2%, while active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) made up 12.8%. Production of finished products reached a record high of 2.95028 trillion won, up 3.7% year-on-year. However, API production decreased by 1.3% to 434.38 billion won. Among finished products, prescription drugs accounted for 86.5%, with production at 2.55206 trillion won, up 5.3% from the previous year. In contrast, over-the-counter (OTC) drug production decreased by 6.0% to 398.22 billion won.

In the previous year, pharmaceutical exports increased by 12.4% from the year before to 10.438 billion dollars (about 1.48425 trillion won), surpassing the 10 billion dollar mark for the first time. Imports rose by 5.9% to 8.93219 billion dollars (about 1.27013 trillion won). As a result, the trade balance posted a surplus of 1.50581 billion dollars, a 41.9% increase from the previous year’s 854.91 million dollars, setting a new record for the largest surplus ever.

There were four companies with production in excess of 1 trillion won, one more than in the previous year. The combined production of Celltrion, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Chong Kun Dang, and Daewoong Pharmaceutical amounted to 679.06 billion won, accounting for 20.1% of total production. In particular, Celltrion saw its production jump by 27.6% year-on-year to 3.2254 trillion won, becoming the first pharmaceutical firm in South Korea to exceed 3 trillion won in annual production.

Both the production and export of biopharmaceuticals also set new records. Last year, biopharmaceutical production increased by 11.2% from the previous year to 702.14 billion won, surpassing the 7 trillion won mark for the first time. Biopharmaceutical exports also rose 17.5% to a record 7.64 billion dollars (about 1.08537 trillion won). Biopharmaceuticals accounted for 73% of total pharmaceutical exports.

By product category, recombinant pharmaceuticals accounted for 4.189 trillion won, or 59.7% of total biopharmaceutical production, followed by vaccines (860.5 billion won), toxins and antitoxins (786.2 billion won), plasma fractionation products (565.7 billion won), and blood products (538.7 billion won).

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety analyzed that increased demand for biosimilars with price competitiveness, along with the growing prevalence of subcutaneous injection (SC) formulations, drove the rise in recombinant pharmaceutical production. The output of biosimilars surged by 43.5%, from 1.7871 trillion won in 2024 to 2.565 trillion won in 2025.

In terms of biopharmaceutical export destinations, the United States ranked first with 1.71 billion dollars, followed by Switzerland (1.19 billion dollars), Hungary (910 million dollars), the Netherlands (640 million dollars), and Germany (500 million dollars). The expansion of the global biosimilar market and the enhanced CDMO (Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization) competitiveness of domestic firms were identified as key drivers of strong export performance.

Wegovy Imports Surge... Quasi-Drug Market Also on the Rebound

Biopharmaceutical imports, led by recombinant pharmaceuticals, increased by 25.7% year-on-year to 2.89 billion dollars. In particular, imports of obesity and diabetes treatments containing semaglutide rose sharply, with obesity treatment imports surging by 530.7% from the previous year.

Imports of the obesity drug Wegovy increased more than tenfold in just one year to 209.2 million dollars, making it the top imported pharmaceutical product. The cancer drug Keytruda followed with 161.85 million dollars.

Meanwhile, the quasi-drug market reached 1.8414 trillion won last year, up 4.9% year-on-year, thanks to rising demand for daily necessities such as toothpaste and sanitary products. Production increased by 3.5% to 1.6602 trillion won, while exports declined by 10.2% to 73.68 million dollars. The top quasi-drug categories were toothpaste, tonic-altering agents, sanitary products, bandages, and masks. Dong-A Pharmaceutical ranked first among companies for the second consecutive year with 336.6 billion won.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.