韩国外来医疗游客皮肤科与药房消费高增长，K-beauty 药房消费链继续扩散

Medical spending by foreign visitors to South Korea has topped 200 billion won for a fifth consecutive month, driven by dermatology clinics and pharmacies. A pattern of getting a dermatological procedure and then buying dermocosmetics at a pharmacy has stood out this year. Combined with the continued popularity of Olive Young, a K-beauty consumption route appears to be taking hold: foreigners discover K-beauty brands at Olive Young, undergo procedures at dermatology clinics, and buy high-concentration skincare medications at pharmacies.
Medical spending by foreign visitors reached 213.07968 billion won in July, up 66.5% from 128 billion won a year earlier, according to the Korea Tourism Organization's Korea Tourism Data Lab on the 31st. After climbing to 204.4 billion won in March, the figure stayed above 200 billion won for five straight months through July. The medical spending figure is estimated based on Shinhan Card payments by visitors to Korea.
By medical specialty, dermatology accounted for the largest share at 54.9%. Plastic surgery followed at 19.3%, pharmacies at 12.7%, university and general hospitals at 6.5%, dentistry at 4.0% and ophthalmology at 1.5%. Dermatology and pharmacies together made up 67.6% of medical spending by foreigners.
By transaction count, pharmacies ranked first. Their share of all medical transactions rose to 68.96% in June this year from 56.37% in July last year. Over the same period, pharmacy transactions climbed from about 175,000 to about 412,000, a 2.4-fold increase.
BC Card data on foreign visitors' card spending in the first half also showed pharmacy payments surging 1,176.9% from a year earlier. Traditional Korean medicine followed at 193.1% and skin care at 109.8%. Total spending across medical categories rose 98% during the period.
K-beauty is seen as the force behind pharmacy spending as well. Anti-aging product Dr. Rejuall, acne treatments Acnon and Acrin, and scar treatment Noscarna are frequently mentioned on overseas social media. Melatoning Cream, which reduces pigmentation, has recently joined the list of popular items. Most overlap with areas that dermatology clinics handle. "Pharmacies are popular as a K-beauty shopping destination because active ingredient concentrations are high and safety is assured," an industry official said. "It is the result of a perception spreading through social media that the secret to Korean women's skin care lies not in cosmetics but in the neighborhood pharmacy."
Pharmacies tailored to foreign customers have emerged along with the trend. Dermocosmetics-focused pharmacies targeting foreigners have opened one after another in tourist hubs such as Seoul's Gangnam, Hongdae, Seongsu and Myeong-dong. Ready Young Pharmacy and Hongik Pharmacy have posted notices and videos written only in foreign languages inside and outside their stores. They directly operate region-specific social media channels, including Instagram for English-speaking markets and WeChat and Xiaohongshu for Chinese-speaking markets, and offer value-added tax refunds to visitors. "Some pharmacies are establishing themselves as a new shopping destination alongside Olive Young, Daiso and Musinsa," a tourism industry official said.
Efforts are also underway across related industries to become the next link in the K-beauty consumption chain. Creatrip, an inbound tourism platform for foreign visitors, is expanding its services from dermatology to vision correction, teeth whitening and dental scaling. The beauty salon industry is also vying for the next spot. Salons around Hongdae are deploying interpreters dedicated to foreign customers. Juno Hair's total foreign visitors rose 52% last month from a year earlier.
"Spending by inbound medical tourists in Korea is projected to grow at an average annual rate of 24.4% through 2030," said Choi Kyu-wan, a professor at Kyung Hee University's College of Hotel and Tourism Management. "No other industry shows growth like this." The professor added that clinics could use dermatology as an entry channel and run strategies linking it to other medical or wellness offerings.