Key facts
- South Korea's drug exports reached $10.44 billion in 2025, a 12.4% increase year-on-year.
- Imports of pharmaceuticals grew 5.9% to $8.93 billion.
- The trade surplus for pharmaceuticals hit a record $1.56 billion, up 41.9%.
- Total drug production reached a record 33.8 trillion won.
- Celltrion Inc. surpassed 3 trillion won in drug production, a first for a domestic company.
South Korea's pharmaceutical exports surpassed $10 billion for the first time in 2025, reaching $10.44 billion, a 12.4 percent increase from the previous year, according to data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. Pharmaceutical imports also rose 5.9 percent to $8.93 billion, resulting in a record trade surplus of $1.56 billion, up 41.9 percent year-on-year.
Biopharmaceuticals were the primary driver of export growth, benefiting from the expanding market share of local biosimilar producers and enhanced contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) capabilities. Overall drug production in South Korea also hit a new record high of 33.8 trillion won in 2025, a 3 percent increase from the prior year. This figure represents the highest annual total since the government began compiling statistics in 1998.
Production growth was particularly strong in prescription-based medicines and finished drug products, which advanced 5.3 percent and 3.7 percent, respectively. Over the past five years, the average annual growth rate of drug production stood at 7.3 percent, exceeding South Korea's GDP growth rate of 4.6 percent during the same period.
Four companies, including Celltrion Inc. and Hanmi Pharm Co., reported annual production exceeding 1 trillion won in 2025. Celltrion notably achieved a 27.6 percent year-on-year increase in drug production, surpassing 3 trillion won and becoming the first domestic company to reach this milestone.