Seoul:<Text>
The number of foreign patients seeking medical services in South Korea exceeded 2 million for the first time last year. This milestone highlights South Korea's growing reputation as a global center for plastic surgery and dermatology, as reported by the health ministry on Friday.
According to Yonhap News Agency, a total of 2.01 million international patients from 201 countries visited South Korea last year, marking a significant increase from 1.17 million the previous year. This growth trend has been consistent since the Ministry of Health and Welfare began tracking this data in 2009. However, the numbers had plummeted to 110,000 in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid recovery and subsequent growth to over 2 million were fueled by the rising global interest in Korean dermatology and the influence of K-pop and Korean dramas.
Chinese patients made up 30.8 percent of the total foreign visitors, with Japanese patients at 29.8 percent, follow ed by Taiwanese at 9.2 percent, and Americans at 8.6 percent. Notably, the number of U.S. patients saw a dramatic 70.4 percent increase, reaching a record 173,000 in 2025 compared to the previous year.
A significant portion, over 62 percent, of the foreign patients received treatment at dermatology clinics, while 11.2 percent opted for plastic surgery. In terms of geographical distribution, 87.2 percent of these international patients sought medical services in Seoul, underscoring the city's prominence as a medical tourism destination.
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