2024 South Korea Healthcare Drug Costs Rise 6% to $21.6B

March 23, 2026 Dr. Michael Lee – Health Editor Health

South Korea’s national health insurance expenditure on pharmaceuticals reached 27.6625 trillion won in 2024, a 5.6% increase from the 26.1966 trillion won spent in the previous year, according to the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS).

The figure represents 23.8% of the nation’s total healthcare expenditure of 116.2375 trillion won, up from 23.6% in 2023, the NHIS stated in its analysis of pharmaceutical spending released Friday. This marks a continued rise in the proportion of health insurance funds allocated to medications, increasing from the low 22% range in 2021 to the upper 23% range in 2024.

According to the latest OECD health statistics from August 2025, South Korea’s pharmaceutical expenditure as a percentage of total health spending stood at 19.4% in 2023, significantly higher than the OECD average of 14.4%. This ratio also exceeds that of other major economies, including Japan (17.6%), Germany (13.7%), and the United Kingdom (9.7%).

The five most significant therapeutic categories accounted for 40.4% of total pharmaceutical expenditure, totaling 11.1653 trillion won. Anti-cancer drugs led with 3.1432 trillion won, followed by drugs for arteriosclerosis (3.1028 trillion won) and antihypertensives (2.529 trillion won).

Spending on the top five pharmaceutical ingredients comprised 9.4% of the total, amounting to 2.5952 trillion won. The combination of ezetimibe and rosuvastatin accounted for 704.6 billion won, followed by choline alfoscerate (557.6 billion won) and atorvastatin (554.3 billion won).

Original brand-name drugs accounted for 55.6% of pharmaceutical expenditure, totaling 15.3434 trillion won, while generic drugs comprised the remaining 44.4%, or 12.2591 trillion won. The share of generic drug prescriptions continues to increase year-over-year.

The increase in pharmaceutical spending is attributed in part to expanded insurance coverage and a rise in prescriptions for chronic disease treatments. Spending on anti-cancer drugs saw the largest increase, rising by 15% compared to the previous year. Treatments for hypertension and diabetes also contributed to the overall increase.