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Korea’s drug exports to US, Europe on the rise
  • By Nam Doo-hyun
  • Published 2018.06.25 16:09
  • Updated 2018.06.25 16:12
  • comments 0

Korea’s pharmaceutical exports to the U.S. and Europe have expanded over the past five years, a report showed.

According to the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI)’s report released on Monday, Korea’s drug exports grew more than 17 percent per year on average, or 1.9 folds, between 2013 and 2017.

Last year, in particular, the nation had the best performance in drug exports, which jumped 30.6 percent to hit a record high of $4.06 billion. Korea shipped out pharmaceutical goods worth more than $100 million to 11 countries last year, up by three from eight nations in the previous year.

As in 2016, Japan was the largest importer of Korean drugs in 2017. The U.S. came in second, rising from the seventh place in the previous year. Germany ranked fourth in 2017, up from the ninth place in the previous year. The Netherlands ranked ninth, climbing from the 25th in the preceding year.

However, rankings of Ireland (third to sixth), Vietnam (fifth to seventh), and Croatia (second to eighth) went down concerning imports of Korean medicines.

Among the 10 importers, the U.S. (232.7 percent), China (74.1 percent), Germany (173.3 percent), the Netherlands (487.3 percent), and Turkey (301.7 percent) saw a steep increase in drug imports from Korea.

Unlike five years ago when medicinal ingredients accounted for half of the medicine exports, finished goods took up more proportions than components last year. This signals that the quality of export has improved during the years, the report said.

In 2017, the nation exported $2.6 billion worth finished drugs, first exceeding the $2 billion mark. The volume was up 51. 8 percent compared to the previous year and accounted for 63.9 percent of the total drug exports.

The share of finished drugs out of all drug exports has been going up from 48.1 percent to 56.7 percent in 2015 and to 63.9 percent in 2017.

“The pharmaceutical industry is actively seeking to enter overseas markets to overcome the growth limit in the domestic market. The U.S. policy to vitalize the use of biosimilar drugs is likely to give a positive signal to local drugmakers to enter the U.S. market,” the KHIDI said in the report. “Based on their experience of market entry into Europe, they should strive harder to secure a larger share in the U.S. market,” it added.

The largest importers of Korean pharmaceutical products were Japan, chased by the U.S., China, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Vietnam, Croatia, and the Netherlands.

hwz@docdocdoc.co.kr

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