Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/0a674b/the_medical_device) has announced the addition of the "The Medical Device Market: South Korea" report to their offering.
South Korea ranks as one of the world's leading economies, with a population approaching 50 million and overall GDP listed among the top 15 in the world. As a result, much of the population expects a high level of medical care.
South Korea has the highest healthcare expenditure of all the 'Asian Tigers', with an estimated 55% funded by the public sector. The government has been forced to implement cost-cutting measures in recent years, owing to a large deficit faced by the healthcare system. Healthcare costs continue to rise, with the country's rapidly aging population adding upward pressure to total spending. In the first half of 2009 for example, senior citizens accounted for 31.7% of costs covered by the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC).
From a regulatory and legal point of view, the market is generally regarded as 'difficult'. Government policies are often not transparent, and there is a large degree of favouritism on behalf of local manufacturers. It remains to be seen, but the situation should improve since the FTA was signed with the USA in 2007, which calls for more transparency especially in the pricing & reimbursement of medical devices.
South Korea's FTA with the European Union (EU) is being finalised, and this will facilitate increased trade with the easing of tariff and non-tariff barriers between the two parties. Bilateral trade reached US$98.4 billion in 2008. The EU is South Korea's second largest trading partner after China and its largest foreign investor. South Korea is the EU's eighth largest trade partner.
South Korea is predominantly supplied by imports, largely from the USA, Germany and Japan. Imports of medical devices have grown strongly in recent years, rising by 99.5% over five years to reach over US$2.4 billion in 2008.
South Korea has a large number of domestic producers, many of which are part of much larger conglomerate companies. Numbers of domestic manufacturers have more than doubled in recent years. Overall, however, the local manufacturing sector is fragmented. One particular area of strength is the electromedical sector.