'K-Bio' Expands Globally... Records Largest Ever Half-Year Export Performance

Korea Health Industry Development Institute Announces First Half Health Industry Export Performance
$13.35 Billion... 8.5% Growth Compared to Same Period Last Year

Pharmaceuticals Grow 45%, Medical Devices 5%
Vaccine CMO and Diagnostic Reagent Export Expansion Drive Growth

Cosmetics Decline 12% Due to COVID-19 and War Impact

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The export performance of the health industry, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and cosmetics, in the first half of this year reached $13.35 billion (approximately 17.4218 trillion KRW), marking the highest record ever for a half-year period.

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute announced on the 11th the "2022 First Half Export Performance of Pharmaceuticals, Medical Devices, Cosmetics, and Other Health Industries," which included this information. This year's health industry export performance was $13.35 billion, showing an 8.5% growth compared to $12.3 billion in the same period last year. This also represents an increase from $13.15 billion in the second half of last year, continuously setting new records for half-year export performance.

The institute analyzed this achievement by stating, "Due to the continued spread of COVID-19 variant viruses, exports of diagnostic reagents and domestically contract-manufactured (CMO) vaccines expanded to countries such as the United States, Japan, Australia, and Canada," but also noted that "cosmetics exports decreased due to supply chain instability caused by lockdowns in China, the largest cosmetics export market."

By sector, pharmaceutical exports reached $4.35 billion (approximately 5.6768 trillion KRW), a 45.0% increase compared to $3.0 billion in the same period last year, and medical devices also grew by 5.2% to $4.93 billion. However, cosmetics exports decreased by 11.9% to $4.06 billion.

The sharp increase in pharmaceutical exports was mainly driven by biopharmaceuticals and vaccines. With export values of $1.68 billion and $780 million respectively, they accounted for more than half (56.4%) of total pharmaceutical exports. In particular, vaccine exports surged by 490.8% year-on-year, as CMO-produced COVID-19 vaccines were exported to Australia, Taiwan, Singapore, and other countries.

In the medical device sector, diagnostic reagents accounted for about half of the share with $2.48 billion. As COVID-19 variants such as Omicron resurged, exports increased by 2.8% compared to the same period last year, maintaining export levels similar to previous years. Other key products such as ultrasound imaging devices ($390 million), implants ($340 million), and radiographic equipment ($330 million) also showed export growth centered on the United States and China.

However, cosmetics exports showed an overall decline of 11.9%, with country-specific decreases of -20.7% in China, -34.3% in Hong Kong, and -17.5% in Russia, due to city lockdowns caused by COVID-19 in China and the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Recently, a shift in cosmetics consumption trends from luxury basic brands to mid- to low-priced color cosmetics brands was observed, with basic skincare product exports decreasing by 16.2%, while color cosmetics product exports increased by 8.7%.

Han Dong-woo, head of the Health Industry Innovation Planning Division at the institute, said, "The health industry exports in the first half of this year achieved the highest half-year record ever, thanks to the efforts of companies related to diagnostic reagents and vaccines that turned the COVID-19 crisis into an opportunity." He added, "For this achievement not to be a temporary result due to COVID-19 but to continue steadily, cooperation between the government and industry and technological development must be carried out together."