(부산=연합뉴스) Reporter Kim Sun-ho = The city of Busan announced on the 7th that the number of foreign medical tourists visiting Busan last year reached a record high of 30,165.
This figure represents an increase of 133.6% compared to the 12,912 in 2023 and a 52.7% increase from the 19,748 in 2019, which was before the COVID-19 pandemic when the city attracted the highest number of medical tourists.
Busan rose from 5th to 3rd place in the national ranking for attracting foreign medical tourists in 2023, securing the top position among non-metropolitan areas.
The distribution by region showed it followed Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, the nationalities of medical tourists visiting Busan last year were Japanese (24.3%), Taiwanese (23.9%), Chinese (11.8%), Russian (9.5%), Vietnamese (6.3%), and American (5.2%).
In particular, the number of Taiwanese medical tourists surged by 1,840% compared to 2023.
Japan saw an increase of 209%, China 117%, and Mongolia 110%, showing high growth rates.
Busan city attributed the growth to the increased number of Japanese and Chinese-speaking tourists visiting dermatology clinics and Mongolian tourists visiting for health check-ups.
The most visited medical departments by Busan’s medical tourists were dermatology (40%), plastic surgery (14.3%), health examination centers (11.2%), internal medicine (9%), and dentistry (5.7%).
They predominantly visited dermatology and plastic surgery clinics concentrated in Seomyeon, with the majority of medical tourists in Busanjin-gu (60.4%), followed by Haeundae-gu (9.9%), Dong-gu (6.7%), Seo-gu (6.6%), and Jung-gu (6.1%).