Domestic Bio Industry Achieves Record Production Scale Last Year with 10% Increase from Previous Year

Last Year Production Scale 23.4657 Trillion
Bio Product Exports Up 12.5%

Last year, the domestic bio industry recorded its largest production scale ever.

Production scale of the domestic bio industry from 2021 to 2022. [Image provided by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy]

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Bio Association announced the results of the "2022 Domestic Bio Industry Survey" on the 7th, which investigated the production, import and export, employment, and investment status of products and services using bio technology.

According to the survey results, the production scale of the domestic bio industry last year was 23.4657 trillion KRW, an increase of 9.7% compared to the previous year, continuing its growth trend. The proportion of bio medical devices such as in vitro diagnostics was the largest at 24.2%. The bio pharmaceutical sector, including biosimilars, followed closely with a share of 24%.

Bio services and bioenergy showed significant growth compared to the previous year. The production scale of bio services such as Contract Manufacturing Organizations (CMO) increased by 32.6% year-on-year, and bio-chemicals and energy such as biofuels grew by 24.2%.

Exports of bio products also increased by 12.5% compared to the previous year. In addition to products like CMO, feed additives, and biosimilars, exports of bio-pharmaceutical products such as botulinum toxin formulations continued to rise. Despite a decrease in exports of in vitro diagnostic devices, bio medical devices still accounted for the largest share of total exports at 28.6%. Exports in the bio service, bio food, and bio pharmaceutical sectors increased by 93%, 20.1%, and 8.6% respectively compared to the previous year.

Imports of bio products saw a 15.4% decrease in bio pharmaceuticals, which hold the largest share, due to the endemic phase of COVID-19 (periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases). On the other hand, the bio-chemical & energy and bio equipment & devices sectors increased by 17.4% and 28.2% respectively compared to the previous year.

The workforce and investment scale in the bio sector also increased by 7.8% and 26.2% respectively compared to the previous year. As of last year, the domestic bio workforce numbered 61,152, up 7.8% from the previous year. The bio workforce growth rate over the past five years reached 7.1%. The growth rates by job category were ▲research positions 7.9%, ▲production positions 5.6%, and ▲sales, management, and other positions 9.7%. Notably, the proportion of employees with master's and doctoral degrees was 25.1%, indicating a high share of highly skilled personnel.

Lee Yong-pil, Director of the Advanced Industry Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, said, "In 2022, the bio industry achieved its highest production scale ever, driven by proactive responses to COVID-19, and exports surpassed 13.5 trillion KRW, marking a significant leap forward. Moving forward, to ensure continuous and future-oriented development of the bio industry, we will continue to expand investments not only in existing industries but also in future growth areas such as digital therapeutics, advanced bio, and synthetic biology."

Meanwhile, this survey is a national statistic announced annually by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy through the Korea Bio Association based on the previous year's bio industry performance.