Korea Medical Tourism Hospitals by Region

Where are the most registered hospitals by region in Korea?

Seoul, with 1,257 in 2022. That is 62.1% of the 2,023 that the 17 regions add up to (1,257 ÷ 2,023), ahead of Busan with 181 and Daegu with 163.

The table counts medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients, region by region. Under the current law, a hospital or clinic that wants to attract foreign patients has to register with its city or provincial governor. The source holds counts of institutions only, so it cannot tell you how many foreign patients were treated in each region.

The regions with 100 or more are Seoul, Busan, Daegu and Incheon (4 in all). The top three together come to 1,601, or 79.1% of the national total (1,601 ÷ 2,023).

Gyeonggi is listed with 12 in 2022, which puts it at rank 14. From 2009 to 2021 its count stayed between 140 and 356. The 2022 value differs sharply from the neighboring years, and the source gives no reason. It is included as published in the 2022 national total, the ranking and the shares.

For registered hospitals by region in Korea, how large is the capital area's share?

The capital area (Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi) had 1,373 in 2022, or 67.9% of the national total (1,373 ÷ 2,023). Seoul alone was 62.1%, and the other 14 regions made up 32.1%.

The 2022 capital-area figure includes Gyeonggi at 12, as printed in the source. Gyeonggi had 151 in 2021.

The capital area's share was highest in 2020 (75.3%) and lowest in 2015 (67.0%). In 2021 it was 73.8%.

Seoul's share was 56.6% in 2009, 51.9% at its lowest in 2015 and 62.1% at its highest in 2022. Six in Ten Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients Are in Seoul follows that share year by year.

Incheon and Gyeonggi together were 14.6% in 2021 and 5.7% in 2022. Between those two years the source shows Incheon going from 81 to 104 and Gyeonggi from 151 to 12.

The other 14 regions went from 418 (28.8%) in 2009 to 650 (32.1%) in 2022.

How have registered hospitals by region in Korea changed since 2009?

Compared with 2009, 14 regions had more registered institutions in 2022 and 3 had fewer. The largest gain was in Seoul (+434) and the largest loss in Gyeonggi (-152).

After Seoul, the largest gains were in Gwangju (+78), Daegu (+76), Incheon (+56) and Busan (+43). The regions with fewer institutions than in 2009 were Gyeonggi (-152), Daejeon (-26) and Gangwon (-12).

Gyeonggi's change is calculated from its 2022 value of 12. Measured from its 2021 value of 151 instead, it would be 13 below 2009 (151 - 164). The source does not say why the 2022 value differs so sharply from the neighboring years.

The national total peaked in 2016 at 3,115. In 2022, 3 regions were above their 2016 count: Gwangju (+29), Ulsan (+2) and Incheon (+1). Another 13 were below it. Sejong had the same count in both years.

Every one of the 17 regions had a lower count in 2017 than in 2016. The Act on Support for Overseas Expansion of Healthcare System and Attraction of International Patients took effect on 23 June 2016 and gave institutions registered before that date until 22 June 2017 to renew. The background is in Why Korea's Registered Hospitals Fell from 3,115 to 1,664 in 2017.

Where did registered hospitals by region in Korea grow most in 2022?

In Seoul (+318), counted against 2021. Daegu (+78) and Gwangju (+69) came next, and 14 of the 17 regions had more institutions than the year before.

The national total went from 1,586 to 2,023, a rise of 437 (2,023 - 1,586). The regions with fewer institutions were Gyeonggi (-139) and Jeonnam (-1). Sejong had the same count in both years.

The largest rise in proportion was in Gwangju, where the count went from 27 to 96, or 3.6 times the 2021 figure (96 ÷ 27).

Gyeonggi's -139 is the gap between 151 in 2021 and 12 in 2022 (12 - 151). The value differs sharply from the neighboring years and the source gives no reason. The national rise of 437 in 2022 is calculated with this value included.

For the two years before that, 2020 and 2021, see What Happened to Korea's Registered Hospitals During COVID-19?

How do registered hospitals by region in Korea compare when neighboring regions are grouped?

Sorted into 7 groups, the three largest in 2022 are Seoul (1,257); Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam (228); and Daegu and Gyeongbuk (178). The smallest is Gangwon and Jeju (41).

The groups are an editorial unit: K-Medical Tourism Institute put neighboring regions together to match its regional pages, and they are not official administrative zones. The 7 groups add up to the national figure.

Each group has its own page with yearly counts, its share of the national total and its count on the 21 Jul 2026 list.

• Seoul Medical Tourism
• Busan, Ulsan and Gyeongnam Medical Tourism
• Daegu and Gyeongbuk Medical Tourism
• Gwangju and Jeolla Medical Tourism
• Incheon and Gyeonggi Medical Tourism
• Daejeon and Chungcheong Medical Tourism
• Gangwon and Jeju Medical Tourism

The national total year by year is in Korea Registered Hospitals for Foreign Patients, and the addresses of local offices are in Medical Tourism Offices in Korea by Region.

Where can you find registered hospitals by region in Korea after 2022?

In a per-institution list dated 21 Jul 2026, which can be counted by region. Of the 4,188 medical institutions on it, 2,632 (62.8%) are in Seoul; the yearly statistics have no values after 2022.

On this list, published by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the order of medical institutions is Seoul (2,632), Gyeonggi (477), Busan (335), Incheon (192) and Daegu (156). The three capital-area regions add up to 3,301, or 78.8% of the list (3,301 ÷ 4,188).

No change between the 2022 statistics and the 21 Jul 2026 list is calculated for any region. The statistics carry no definition of what they count, and the list has one row for each institution whose status is recorded as "maintained." K-Medical Tourism Institute found no official page explaining how the two sources differ.

Facilitators appear only on the list: 2,733 in all, led by Seoul (1,678), Gyeonggi (453) and Incheon (165). The 2009-2022 statistics count medical institutions and do not include facilitators.

What should you keep in mind when reading the figures on registered hospitals by region in Korea?

The source file does not define its figures. Neither the file nor the portal description says whether a number is the count of institutions holding a registration at year end or the count registered during that year. It is also a different statistic from the number of patients treated.

Gyeonggi is listed with 12 in 2022 and 151 in 2021. The 2022 value differs sharply from the neighboring years, the source gives no reason, and K-Medical Tourism Institute found no official document that confirms or corrects it. It is included as published in the 2022 national total, the capital-area figures, the Incheon and Gyeonggi group, the ranking and the shares.

The ranking is an order of registered counts. The source has nothing on the standard or cost of care or on patient numbers in each region, so none of that can be read from a rank. It does not give the size or specialties of institutions either.

Where do the figures on registered hospitals by region in Korea come from, and how were they calculated?

The figures are taken as published from "Medical institutions registered to attract foreign patients, by year and region", a file the Korea Health Industry Development Institute released on the Korean Public Data Portal (data as of 31 Dec 2022). The file lists 17 regions and has no national total, so K-Medical Tourism Institute added the 17 regional values to get the nationwide figures, and calculated shares and changes from the same values.

The 21 Jul 2026 figures are counts by region and institution type from "Registered institutions and facilitators for foreign patients (list)", a 6,921-row list published by the same institute. 33 rows have the word "test" in the institution or representative name. They could not be told apart from real entries with certainty and were left in, so the true number of institutions may be slightly lower.

The capital area is the sum of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi, and "the other 14 regions" is the sum of the rest. A change is the later year's value minus the earlier year's, and a share is the count divided by that year's national figure, given to one decimal place. Because of rounding, shares may not add up to exactly 100.0%.