Era of 2.32 Million Healthcare Professionals... Physician Concentration in the Seoul Metropolitan Area Worsens

900,000 More Licensed Professionals in a Decade... 67% Employment Rate
364 Active Physicians per 100,000 Population in Seoul vs. 138 in North Gyeongsang
Physician Average Annual Income: 285 Million Won, Highest Growth Rate Over 10 Years

Over the past decade, nearly 900,000 additional healthcare professionals have been added, bringing the total number of licensed or certified individuals in the healthcare sector to over 2.32 million. While the number of active workers in medical fields has increased and the employment rate has improved, the concentration of physicians in the greater Seoul area has worsened, further highlighting the shortage of healthcare workers in other regions.

On September 29, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the results of the "2nd Survey on the Status of Healthcare Workers." This survey was jointly conducted by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs and the National Health Insurance Service. It analyzed the integrated data of 20 healthcare occupations, linking license and certification information, health insurance eligibility, and data reported by healthcare institutions.

According to the survey, in 2023, there were 2,324,000 licensed or certified healthcare workers across 20 occupations, an increase of approximately 900,000 from 1,424,000 in 2013. The average annual growth rate was 5.0%.

By occupation, nursing assistants accounted for the largest share with 836,000 individuals, making up 36.0% of the total. They were followed by registered nurses with 460,000 (19.8%), dietitians with 164,000 (7.1%), and physicians with 128,000 (5.5%). Over the past ten years, nursing assistants posted the largest increase, growing by 344,000, while occupational therapists showed the highest average annual growth rate at 12.3%.

The number of active workers has also increased significantly. In 2023, there were 1,557,000 active healthcare workers, a rise of 678,000 from 879,000 in 2013, representing an average annual increase of 5.9%. Among all those holding licenses or certifications, the employment rate rose by 5.3 percentage points, from 61.7% to 67.0%.

However, 33.0% (767,000 individuals) of all licensed or certified personnel were not engaged in any particular employment activity. By occupation, registered nurses had an inactivity rate of 26.1%, pharmacists 23.6%, while physicians had 7.9%, dentists 10.0%, and oriental medicine doctors 12.1%.

Acceleration of Physician Aging in Non-Metropolitan Areas

In 2023, 112,443 physicians were working at healthcare institutions, an increase of about 30,000 from 82,409 in 2013. However, most of the additional physicians are concentrated in the greater Seoul area; the proportion of physicians working in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon rose from 53.2% in 2013 to 55.6% in 2023, up by 2.4 percentage points. In contrast, metropolitan areas outside Seoul dropped from 22.9% to 21.5%, and provincial regions from 23.8% to 22.5%.

The gap becomes even more evident when looking at the number of active physicians per 100,000 people. In 2023, Seoul had 364.1 physicians per 100,000, which is 1.7 times the national average of 219.8; meanwhile, North Gyeongsang Province had only 137.9 physicians per 100,000, a difference of about 2.64 times between Seoul and North Gyeongsang. Particularly, the number of active physicians in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang decreased at an average annual rate of 0.2% between 2021 and 2023.

Physician aging progressed more rapidly in regional areas than in the greater Seoul area. The average age of physicians working at healthcare institutions increased from 44.6 years in 2015 to 47.1 years in 2023, a rise of 2.5 years. By region, the average age of physicians in South Jeolla was 50.2, in North Gyeongsang 50.8, in North Jeolla 49.1, in North Chungcheong 49.2, and in Gangwon 48.0—all exceeding the national average.

When comparing the increase in average age since 2015, North Gyeongsang saw a rise of 3.6 years, and South Jeolla and North Jeolla each increased by 3.4 years. In contrast, Seoul's average physician age rose by only 1.9 years (from 42.8 to 44.7). The Ministry of Health and Welfare also analyzed that physician aging is progressing faster in provincial areas outside the metropolitan region than in the Seoul area.

In 2023, the average annual income for physicians working at healthcare institutions was 285.18 million won, which was the highest among all healthcare professionals. By type of institution, physicians at tertiary hospitals earned an average of 199.76 million won, at general hospitals 251.45 million won, at hospitals 354.27 million won, and at clinics 325.99 million won.

The average annual income was 202.77 million won for dentists, 103.68 million won for oriental medicine doctors, 84.26 million won for pharmacists, and 51.95 million won for registered nurses.

Comparing the average annual income growth rates since 2013, physicians had the highest increase at 5.6%, followed by registered nurses at 3.5%, dentists at 3.1%, pharmacists at 2.7%, and oriental medicine doctors at 0.6%.

The final results of this survey will be released through the Ministry of Health and Welfare website, the Ministry of Data and Statistics' National Statistics Portal, and the website of the Health and Medical Workforce Support Agency.

Lim Eulgi, Director of Healthcare Resources Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "The survey on the status of healthcare workers is meaningful in that it allows us to accurately identify the actual workforce supply and the working conditions on the frontlines of the medical field. Going forward, we will continue to monitor changes in the field, systematically train outstanding professionals, and use the findings as a basis for policies to ensure smooth workforce supply and demand by region and field."

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