How to Read Seoul Medical Tourism Statistics
Seoul medical tourism statistics have to be read as five separate datasets with different reference dates. Patient numbers are for 2025 and the clinic list is from 2015, so the two cannot be divided into each other or joined into one series.
Seoul Tourism and Medical Tourism Data prints the reference point and source beside every figure, and does not say in the text what the data does not say.
Contents
- Which datasets make up Seoul medical tourism statistics?
- Why do the reference dates matter in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
- Who counts as a foreign patient in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
- Can patients be divided by clinics in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
- How are medical fields assigned in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
- What do the tourism lists shown beside Seoul medical tourism statistics count?
- What should be stated when citing Seoul medical tourism statistics?
- Frequently asked questions about Seoul medical tourism statistics
- Related pages
- Sources
Which datasets make up Seoul medical tourism statistics?
Five datasets on the Seoul Open Data Plaza. Two are medical, the foreign patient statistics and the clinic list, and three are tourism lists covering attractions, restaurants and shopping.
| Dataset | Reference point | Updates | What it shows | What it does not show |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seoul: foreign patients by nationality, statistics (in Korean) | the year 2025 | yearly | foreign patients by nationality | patients by district or by specialty |
| Seoul: medical institutions approved for medical tourism, English list (2015) | one point in 2015 | one-off, not updated | clinics by district and neighbourhood | patient numbers, current registration, specialties |
| Seoul tourist attractions (dataset, five languages) | download date, 9 Oct 2026 | monthly, on the 7th | location and transport of the 506 places in the guide | the number of all such places in Seoul |
| Seoul restaurants for visitors (dataset, five languages) | download date, 9 Oct 2026 | monthly, on the 7th | location and transport of the 1,373 places in the guide | the number of all such places in Seoul |
| Seoul shopping places for visitors (dataset, five languages) | download date, 9 Oct 2026 | monthly, on the 7th | location and transport of the 327 places in the guide | the number of all such places in Seoul |
The five have different makers and purposes. The patient statistics are compiled by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute and released by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the clinic list comes from the city's Public Health Policy Division, and the tourism lists from the Seoul Tourism Organization. All carry the KOGL Type 1 licence, which requires attribution.
Why do the reference dates matter in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
Because each dataset points to a different time. Patient numbers cover the whole of 2025, while the clinic list is a single point in 2015. There are 10 years between them.
The list is a single snapshot from 2015 and has not been updated since. Clinics that have closed or moved, and those registered later, are not reflected. It cannot be used to confirm whether a clinic is registered today.
The three tourism lists are updated every month. The figures on Seoul Tourism and Medical Tourism Data are those of the files downloaded on 9 Oct 2026 and may differ next month.
Who counts as a foreign patient in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
A foreign patient in these statistics is a non-Korean national who received care at a Korean medical institution and is neither a subscriber to nor a dependant under National Health Insurance. Foreign residents treated under the national insurance are not counted.
| Rank | Nationality | Foreign patients | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan | 572,967 | 32.6% |
| 2 | China | 539,270 | 30.7% |
| 3 | Taiwan | 154,278 | 8.8% |
| 4 | United States | 139,957 | 8.0% |
| 5 | Thailand | 50,111 | 2.9% |
| - | Seoul total | 1,755,002 | 100.0% |
Seoul had 1,755,002 foreign patients in 2025, and the largest nationality was Japan with 572,967 (32.6%). All nationalities are in Foreign Patients in Seoul.
Can patients be divided by clinics in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
No. The patient figure is for 2025 and the clinic figure for 2015, so "patients per clinic" would be a number that was true in neither year.
The patient statistics are not broken down by district either. Nothing in the data shows that a district with more clinics treated proportionally more patients. Clinic counts by district are in Medical Tourism Clinics in Seoul.
How are medical fields assigned in Seoul medical tourism statistics?
By words in each clinic's English name. The source has no specialty column, so Seoul Tourism and Medical Tourism Data assigned a field from the name.
| Field | Clinics | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Plastic surgery | 329 | 22.1% |
| Dentistry | 285 | 19.1% |
| Korean medicine | 160 | 10.7% |
| Hospitals and medical centres (no specialty in the name) | 143 | 9.6% |
| Dermatology | 120 | 8.0% |
| Not identifiable from the name | 291 | 19.5% |
The source has no column for medical specialty. Seoul Tourism and Medical Tourism Data grouped clinics by words in their English names (Plastic, Dental, Dermatology and so on), counting each clinic once under the first field that matches. The 291 clinics whose names show no specialty are listed as "not identifiable from the name". These are not statistics on the departments a clinic actually runs.
Every field is listed in Medical Tourism Clinics in Seoul by Specialty.
What do the tourism lists shown beside Seoul medical tourism statistics count?
Places featured on the city's official travel guide. The Korean lists have 506 attractions, 1,373 restaurants and 327 shopping places.
This is the list of places featured on Visit Seoul, the city's official travel guide. It is not a census of every attraction in Seoul. A district's count is the number of places the guide lists there, not the number that exist. The dataset is updated monthly, so the figures are those of the download date.
District counts are in Seoul Attractions by District and Seoul Restaurants by District.
What should be stated when citing Seoul medical tourism statistics?
Give three things with the figure: the dataset name, the reference point and how it was calculated. Every page on Seoul Tourism and Medical Tourism Data lists all three in its sources section.
- Patients: that the value is for 2025 in "Seoul: foreign patients by nationality, statistics (in Korean)"
- Clinics: that it is a count of the 1,491 rows with a Seoul address on the 2015 list
- Fields: that they are an editorial grouping by name, not official statistics on specialties
- Tourism lists: that they count places in the guide, as downloaded on 9 Oct 2026
Frequently asked questions about Seoul medical tourism statistics
Are the patient figure and the clinic figure from the same year?
No. Patient numbers are for 2025 and the clinic list is from 2015.
Are foreign residents of Korea counted as foreign patients?
Not if they are subscribers to or dependants under National Health Insurance. The statistics count foreign nationals treated at Korean medical institutions outside the national insurance.
Why are there no foreign patient numbers by district?
Because the table the city publishes is broken down by nationality only. District values are not in the open data.
Are the figures by medical field official statistics?
No. They are an editorial grouping Seoul Tourism and Medical Tourism Data made from words in the English names. The field of the 291 clinics with no specialty in the name is unknown.
Do the attraction counts cover every attraction in Seoul?
No. They count the places featured on the official Seoul travel guide. Places that are not featured are not counted.
Can the data be reused?
All five datasets carry the KOGL Type 1 licence. Commercial use and changes are allowed with attribution.
Sources
- Seoul: foreign patients by nationality, statistics (in Korean) Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Open Data Plaza · 6 Apr 2015 · published yearly, compiled by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, KOGL Type 1
- Seoul: medical institutions approved for medical tourism, English list (2015) Seoul Metropolitan Government (Public Health Policy Division), Seoul Open Data Plaza · 21 Jan 2016 · one-off release, from the Foreign Patient Attraction Information System, KOGL Type 1
- Korea Open Government License, Type 1: attribution (in Korean) Korea Open Government License (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) · attribution required, commercial use and changes allowed
Every address was opened and checked on 9 Oct 2026. Shares were calculated from the source values, and the formulas are shown in the text.