South Korea’s exports of pharmaceutical products reached an all-time high last year, driven by biosimilars and other biological agents, data showed on Monday.

According to the data released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the nation’s outbound shipments of medicines totaled $4.67 billion in 2018, up 14.8 percent from the previous year. The export volume has grown by an average of 17.9 percent per year over the past five years since 2014.

Exports of finished drugs grew 18.8 percent from 2017 to $3.09 billion in 2018, exceeding the $3 billion mark for the first time. They accounted for around two thirds of total pharmaceutical exports and showed an average annual growth rate of 25.8 percent over the last five years.

Exports of biomedicines increased 13.9 percent on year to $1.56 billion last year, gaining 27.6 percent per annum on average since 2014. They were responsible for about one third of total pharmaceutical exports.

Exports of Korean pharmaceutical product to Europe amounted to $997.9 million last year, followed by Asia at $155.1 million and North America $125.8 million. The shipments to North America surged 56.8 percent from a year ago.

Trade balance for entire pharmaceutical products remained in red, logging a deficit of $1.83 billion, but biological products maintained a surplus streak for four years in a row. Shipments of recombinant drugs including biosimilars and antibody drugs rose 18.7 percent to $1.18 billion, accounting for 75.5 percent of total exports of biomedicines.

Pharmaceutical production in the country amounted to 21.15 trillion won ($17.85 billion) in 2018, up 3.7 percent from 2017. Hanmi Pharm ranked top by producing 907.5 billion won worth medicines, up 19.5 percent from the previous year. It was followed by Chong Kun Dang Pharmaceutical, Celltrion and Daewoong Pharma.

By Seo Jin-woo and Choi Mira

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