Medical tours emerge as growth engine for Korea
29-May-15, Business Korea
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on May 28 that a combined number of medical tourists from 2009 reached 900,000, which includes 267,000 foreign patients last year, and the figure is expected to surpass 1 million within this month. The accumulated medical costs amounted to 1.5 trillion won (US$1.36 billion).
Image: Business Korea
Thanks to the increase of Chinese patients seeking plastic surgery due to Hallyu and strengthened cooperation between governments, including the Middle East and Central Asia, the number of medical tourists has showed an annual growth rate of 34.7 percent from 2009.