Short answer: Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) counted 2,011,822 foreign patients in 2025 — the first year above two million — after 1,170,467 in 2024 and about 606,000 in 2023. Dermatology and Seoul dominate the mix. Cosmetic VAT refunds for foreign visitors ended on 31 December 2025.
These figures come from MOHW press releases and KHIDI (Korea Health Industry Development Institute) reports. Department totals can exceed unique patients because one person who visits two departments is counted in both.
How many foreign patients visit Korea each year?
MOHW defines a foreign patient as a non-resident foreigner who is not covered by Korea’s National Health Insurance and who received care at a Korean medical institution that reports foreign patients to MOHW. Counts below are unique patients (실환자) unless noted.
| Year | Foreign patients (unique) | Notes | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | ~497,000 | Pre-COVID peak | MOHW 2023 release |
| 2020 | ~120,000 | COVID collapse | Same |
| 2022 | ~248,000 | Recovery year | Same |
| 2023 | ~606,000 (60.6만) | New record; +144% vs 2022 | MOHW 2023 |
| 2024 | 1,170,467 | First year above 1 million; +93.2% vs 2023 | MOHW 2024; KHIDI report |
| 2025 | 2,011,822 | First year above 2 million; visit-days ~2.72 million | MOHW 2025; Yonhap |
Cumulative unique patients since tracking began in 2009 reached about 5.05 million through 2024 and about 7.06 million through 2025 (MOHW).
Which countries send the most patients?
2025 (exact headcounts)
| Rank | Country | Patients | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | China | 618,973 | 30.8% |
| 2 | Japan | 600,009 | 29.8% |
| 3 | Taiwan | 185,715 | 9.2% |
| 4 | United States | 173,363 | 8.6% |
| 5 | Thailand | ~58,000 (5.8만) | — |
China and Japan together were 60.6% of all foreign patients in 2025. China overtook Japan for the first time. Source: MOHW 2025 via Yonhap.
Also in 2025 (MOHW): Canada 23,624 (+59.1%); Singapore ~43,000 (4.3만, +62.1%); Indonesia ~21,000 (2.1만, +104.6%).
2024
| Rank | Country | Patients | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | ~441,000 (44.1만) | — |
| 2 | China | 261,000 (26.1만) | — |
| 3 | United States | 102,000 (10.2만) | 8.7% |
| 4 | Taiwan | 83,000 (8.3만) | 7.1% |
| 5 | Thailand | 38,000 (3.8만) | — |
Japan + China = 702,000 (60.0%). Source: MOHW 2024.
2023
Top countries: Japan (~157,000), China (~112,000), United States (~77,000), Thailand (~31,000), Mongolia. Japan + China were 49.5%. Source: MOHW 2023.
Which departments do foreign patients use?
Department counts are per specialty visit. One patient who sees dermatology and plastic surgery appears in both rows, so department totals can exceed the unique-patient total.
| Year | Dermatology | Plastic surgery | Internal medicine (integrated) | Health check-up |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 239,060 (35.2%) | 114,074 (16.8%) | ~91,000 (13.4%) | ~7.4% share |
| 2024 | 705,044 (56.6%) | 141,845 (11.4%) | ~10.0% share | ~4.5% share |
| 2025 | 1,312,700 (62.9%) | 233,100 (11.2%) | 192,208 (9.2%) | ~65,000 (3.1%) |
Sources: MOHW 2023–2025 releases; detailed year columns also appear in the KDI-circulated MOHW appendix for 2009–2025.
Clinic-level (의원) care took 66.5% of patients in 2023, 82.0% in 2024, and 87.7% (1,765,153) in 2025 — the aesthetic boom is concentrated in outpatient clinics, not tertiary hospitals (MOHW).
How concentrated is care in Seoul?
| Year | Seoul patients | Seoul share | Next cities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | ~473,000 | 78.1% | Gyeonggi 8.4%, Daegu 2.5% |
| 2024 | ~1,000,000 (999,642) | 85.4% | Gyeonggi 4.4%, Busan 2.6% |
| 2025 | 1,755,002 | 87.2% | Busan 3.8%, Gyeonggi 2.7%, Jeju 2.3% |
In 2025, 62.5% of the medical institutions on MOHW’s foreign-patient register (2,555 of them) were in Seoul (MOHW 2025). Capital-region share was already 88.9% in 2023.
How much do foreign patients spend?
Official unique-patient statistics from MOHW/KHIDI do not publish a single “average surgery bill.” Spending figures that do exist use different methods — treat them as separate datasets, not as one ledger.
| Measure | Year | Figure | Method / caveat | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Medical-sector card spend by foreign patients | 2024 | ₩1.4053 trillion | Overseas-issued cards; ~919,000 card users (subset of all patients) | KHIDI card-data report (via Yonhap) |
| Of which dermatology (card) | 2024 | ₩585.5 billion | Card MCC / industry codes | Same |
| Of which plastic surgery (card) | 2024 | ₩359.4 billion | Card MCC / industry codes | Same |
| Per-patient medical card spend | 2024 | ~₩1.53 million | Among card users only | Same |
| Estimated medical-tourism spend (patients + companions) | 2024 | ₩7.5039 trillion | KIET model, not a cash register | Industry Research / Yonhap citing KIET |
| Estimated medical-tourism spend (patients + companions) | 2025 | ₩12.5 trillion | KIET model | MOHW 2025 |
| Of which medical spend (KIET) | 2025 | ₩3.3 trillion | KIET model | Same |
Not verified here: a single official “average rhinoplasty / eyelid price for foreigners” as a national statistic. Clinic menus vary too widely; our procedure guides use labelled clinic-guide ranges instead.
What changed with the cosmetic VAT refund?
From 2016 through 31 December 2025, foreign visitors could reclaim the 10% VAT on many cosmetic and dermatology procedures under a special tax provision. The Ministry of Economy and Finance’s 2025 tax plan ended the sunset extension; the National Assembly’s December 2025 tax revision did not restore it. Procedures paid for or provided from 1 January 2026 are not eligible for that refund.
Sources: Korea Herald; Korea JoongAng Daily; Ministry of Economy and Finance 2025 tax reform coverage.
VAT refund volume itself rose sharply (industry reporting cited ~₩95.5 billion refunded in 2024). That is a tax-refund total, not patient revenue.
What should a patient take from these numbers?
- Volume is real. Two million foreign patients in 2025 is an official MOHW count, not a marketing claim.
- Dermatology outnumbers plastic surgery in headcount by a wide margin — many trips are outpatient skin visits, not operating-room weeks.
- Seoul is the default geography in the official data. Planning only for “Korea” without a city plan is incomplete.
- Quotes are still local. National headcounts do not tell you what your consult should cost; see our cost guides for labelled ranges.
- 2026 pricing context changed for cosmetic visitors when the VAT refund ended on 31 December 2025.
Sources and update log
| # | Source | What we used |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | MOHW press release, 2023 foreign patients (29 Apr 2024) | 2023 totals, countries, departments, Seoul share |
| 2 | MOHW press release, 2024 foreign patients (2 Apr 2025) | 2024 totals, countries, departments, Seoul share |
| 3 | MOHW press release, 2025 foreign patients (24 Apr 2026) | 2025 totals, departments, Seoul, KIET spend |
| 4 | Yonhap summary of MOHW 2025 | Exact China / Japan / Taiwan / US / Seoul / clinic headcounts |
| 5 | KHIDI 2024 foreign-patient statistics report | 1,170,467 exact 2024 total; Japan 44.1만 |
| 6 | KHIDI 2024 card-spend analysis | ₩1.4053T medical card spend |
| 7 | Yonhap on 2024 card + KIET spend | Card and KIET 2024 figures |
| 8 | KDI-hosted MOHW 2009–2025 appendix | Department and Seoul time series |
| 9 | Korea Herald on VAT refund end | VAT refund ended 31 Dec 2025 |
Update log
- 2026-10-05 — First published. Figures through MOHW’s 2025 release (issued Apr 2026). Next planned refresh after MOHW’s 2026 annual release (expected ~Apr 2027), or sooner if mid-year policy changes.
Flagged / not included
- Exact Japan headcount for 2024 beyond MOHW’s “44.1만” rounding (KHIDI report PDF not re-parsed line-by-line for this edition).
- Any clinic-level ranking or named-hospital share of foreign patients.
- Average procedure prices as “national statistics” (not published that way by MOHW/KHIDI).
- Claims about Peep Korea’s own audience or patient numbers (not applicable to this page).