Seoul, South Korea – The Korean healthcare manufacturing industry continued its upward trajectory in the second quarter of 2024, posting robust growth, improved profitability, and enhanced financial stability, according to a recent report by the Korea Health Industry Development Institute.

The report, released on December 30th, analyzed the financial performance of 291 healthcare manufacturing companies. Collectively, these companies experienced a 10.7% increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter, signaling a sustained period of growth.

Industry Breakdown

Pharmaceuticals: The pharmaceutical sector saw a particularly impressive 12.1% increase in revenue, up 5.5 percentage points from the first quarter.
Medical Devices: The medical device industry also reported strong growth, with revenue increasing by 6.2%, a significant 18.7 percentage point jump from the preceding quarter.
Company Size Analysis Large enterprises led the growth, with a 21.0 percentage point increase in revenue compared to the previous quarter. Medium-sized enterprises also experienced a slight uptick in growth (4.2% to 5.0%), while small enterprises saw a positive turnaround, moving from a decline of 1.0% to a growth of 7.4%.

Profitability and Financial Health The industry’s operating profit margin increased from 8.7% to 10.8%, and the pretax profit margin rose from 8.1% to 11.3% year-over-year. Both the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors contributed to this improvement.

Despite this robust performance, small enterprises saw a decline in operating profit margin from 2.3% to 0.4%. Large and medium-sized enterprises, however, experienced increases in their operating profit margins.

The healthcare manufacturers’ debt ratio remained relatively stable at 36.2%, with the debt-to-equity ratio at 9.3%. Both the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors showed slight improvements in their debt ratios.

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