# How to Read Korea's Foreign Patient Hospital Statistics

> Korea's statistics on hospitals for foreign patients count, region by region, the medical institutions that have registered in order to attract foreign patients. They are a different statistic from patient numbers, and a national figure only exists once the 17 regions are added together.

The 2022 national figure of 2,023 contains 1,257 for Seoul and 12 for Gyeonggi. When K-Medical Tourism Institute uses these statistics it states which values are in the source and which it calculated.

- Written by: K-Medical Tourism Institute Editorial Desk
- Published: 5 Oct 2026
- Data as of: Based on the 2022 statistics and the July 2026 list
- Canonical URL: https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/how-to-read-foreign-patient-institution-statistics

## What do the foreign patient hospital statistics count?

They count medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients. Under Korea's law on attracting international patients, an institution that wants to do so must meet the requirements and register with its city or provincial governor.

There are two requirements. The institution must have at least one specialist for each department in which it will attract patients, and it must hold medical malpractice liability insurance or belong to a medical liability mutual aid association. A registration is valid for three years from the registration date.

**What the statistics on registered hospitals contain and what they leave out** (source as of 31 Dec 2022)

| Item | In the source? | How it is handled |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Registered institutions by region | Yes (17 regions, 2009-2022) | Published as is |
| National total | No | Made by adding the 17 regions |
| Definition of the figures | No | Not assumed to be a year-end count |
| Type of institution (clinic, hospital) | No | Can only be counted from the 21 Jul 2026 list |
| Number of foreign patients | No | Taken separately from the health ministry |
| Number of facilitators | No | Can only be counted from the 21 Jul 2026 list |
| District or county figures | No | Cannot be broken down |

The source is a single table of 17 regions by 14 years. It comes with no notes or definitions, so there is no way to tell whether a figure is the number of institutions holding a registration at year end or the number registered during the year.

## How do the foreign patient hospital statistics differ from patient numbers?

They count different things. One is the number of registered institutions. The other is the number of unique foreign patients that the health ministry announces each year. In some years the two do not move in the same direction or at the same pace.

**Registered institutions and unique foreign patients** (institutions and patients)

| Year | Registered institutions (17 regions added) | Unique foreign patients (health ministry) |
| --- | ---: | ---: |
| 2009 | 1,453 | 60,201 |
| 2012 | 2,498 | 159,464 |
| 2015 | 2,813 | 296,889 |
| 2016 | 3,115 | 364,189 |
| 2017 | 1,664 | 321,574 |
| 2019 | 2,051 | 497,464 |
| 2020 | 1,509 | 117,069 |
| 2021 | 1,586 | 145,842 |
| 2022 | 2,023 | 248,110 |
| 2025 | - | 2,011,822 |

The institution statistics end in 2022. Patient numbers are the yearly totals in the attachment to the health ministry's 24 Apr 2026 press release.

In 2017 the number of institutions went from 3,115 to 1,664, while patients went from 364,189 to 321,574. In the year the institution count fell 46.6%, patient numbers fell 11.7% (1 − 1,664 ÷ 3,115 and 1 − 321,574 ÷ 364,189).

Patient numbers have been announced up to 2,011,822 for 2025. The institution statistics stop at 2022, so later patient numbers cannot be divided by an institution count to get "patients per institution".

## How is the national total in the foreign patient hospital statistics worked out?

By adding the 17 regions, because the source has no nationwide row. For 2022 that is 1,257 in Seoul plus 766 in the other 16 regions, which makes 2,023.

**The three rows behind the national total** (number of institutions)

| Row | 2009 | 2012 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
| --- | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: | ---: |
| Seoul | 823 | 1,324 | 1,461 | 1,646 | 974 | 1,211 | 920 | 939 | 1,257 |
| The other 16 regions | 630 | 1,174 | 1,352 | 1,469 | 690 | 840 | 589 | 647 | 766 |
| Nationwide | 1,453 | 2,498 | 2,813 | 3,115 | 1,664 | 2,051 | 1,509 | 1,586 | 2,023 |

Nationwide = Seoul + the other 16 regions. The source has no nationwide row.

Everywhere on K-Medical Tourism Institute, "nationwide" means this sum, and shares use it as the denominator. Regional figures are in [Korea Medical Tourism Hospitals by Region](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-institutions-by-region) and the yearly totals in [Korea Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients](https://k-medicals.org/en/data/foreign-patient-institutions-by-year).

## Where do the foreign patient hospital statistics break sharply?

In three places: 2017, when the national figure fell by 1,451; 2020, when it fell by 542; and 2022, when Gyeonggi went from 151 to 12.

**Three sharp breaks in the statistics on registered hospitals** (number of institutions)

| Period | Before | After | Change | Reason that can be confirmed |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Nationwide, 2016 to 2017 | 3,115 | 1,664 | -1,451 | A law in force from June 2016 required existing registrations to be renewed within one year |
| Nationwide, 2019 to 2020 | 2,051 | 1,509 | -542 | The source gives no reason |
| Gyeonggi, 2021 to 2022 | 151 | 12 | -139 | The source gives no reason |

Only the 2017 break has a reason that the record confirms. The addenda to the law required institutions already registered to renew within one year of its start, and the health ministry announced 22 June 2017 as the deadline. The sequence is set out in [Why Korea's Registered Hospitals Fell from 3,115 to 1,664 in 2017](https://k-medicals.org/en/articles/why-registered-institutions-halved-in-2017).

Gyeonggi's 2022 value of 12 is far out of line with the years around it. The source gives no reason, and no official document correcting or explaining it was found. K-Medical Tourism Institute prints the value as published and notes that it sits inside the 2022 national total and any 2022 figure for the capital area.

## Where are foreign patient hospital statistics for the years after 2022?

No yearly table in the same format has been published for later years. What exists is a per-institution list as of 21 Jul 2026, from which 4,188 medical institutions and 2,733 facilitators can be counted.

**Entries on the 21 Jul 2026 list by type** (number of entries)

| Type | Count |
| --- | ---: |
| Clinic | 2,714 |
| Dental clinic | 443 |
| Korean medicine clinic | 372 |
| Hospital | 284 |
| General hospital | 147 |
| Dental hospital | 80 |
| Korean medicine hospital | 74 |
| Tertiary general hospital | 57 |
| Other | 17 |
| Facilitator (not a medical institution) | 2,733 |
| Total | 6,921 |

The total includes 33 rows with the word "test" in the institution or representative name.

The 4,188 on the list should not be joined to the 2,023 in the 2022 statistics to produce a growth rate. The list has one row for each institution whose registration status was "maintained" on that day, while the statistics are totals with no stated definition. No official document explaining the difference between the two was found.

## What should you state when quoting the foreign patient hospital statistics?

The name of the source, its reference date, and whether a value was calculated. With the four points below a reader can find the same number again.

- Source and date: Korea Health Industry Development Institute, medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients by year and region, as of 31 Dec 2022
- For a national figure: that it is the sum of the 17 regions
- For any 2022 national, capital-area or Gyeonggi figure: that Gyeonggi is recorded as 12
- When comparing years either side of 2017: that registrations had to be renewed in 2017

The Public Data Portal lists the scope of permitted use for this file as "no restriction". When you use a share or a change that K-Medical Tourism Institute calculated, name the original source and the site that did the calculation.

## Frequently asked questions

### How often are the statistics updated?

The Public Data Portal gives the update cycle as "as needed (one-off data)". When checked on 5 Oct 2026 there was no newer edition with figures after 2022.

### What is the difference between a registered institution and a facilitator?

A registered institution is a hospital or clinic registered to attract foreign patients. A facilitator is a business that is not a medical institution and has registered for the same purpose. The yearly statistics cover institutions only.

### Are the figures year-end counts?

It cannot be told, because the source defines nothing. The file name carries the date 20221231, but nothing explains what each yearly number counts.

### Why is Sejong zero in most years?

In the source Sejong is 1 in 2016, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 0 in every other year. The source gives no reason.

### Where can you see figures by type of institution?

Not in the yearly statistics. They can be counted from the 21 Jul 2026 list, where clinics are the largest group at 2,714.

## Sources

- [KHIDI: Medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients, by year and region (as of 31 Dec 2022, in Korean)](https://www.data.go.kr/data/15125603/fileData.do) - Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Korean Public Data Portal, 13 Dec 2023, data as of 31 Dec 2022, no restriction on reuse stated
- [MOHW press release: foreign patients treated in Korea passed 2 million in 2025 (in Korean)](https://www.mohw.go.kr/board.es?mid=a10503010100&bid=0027&act=view&list_no=1490280) - Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW), 24 Apr 2026, the attachment prints unique patients for 2009 to 2025
- [KHIDI: List of registered institutions and facilitators for foreign patients (as of 21 Jul 2026, in Korean)](https://www.data.go.kr/data/3050000/fileData.do) - Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI), Korean Public Data Portal, 21 Jul 2026, per-institution list, data as of 21 Jul 2026
- [Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Healthcare System and Attraction of International Patients (Korean text)](https://www.law.go.kr/법령/의료해외진출및외국인환자유치지원에관한법률) - Korea Law Information Center (Ministry of Government Legislation), in force from 12 May 2026, Act No. 21112