S. Korea's Pharma Exports Top $10 Billion for First Time

South Korea's exports of pharmaceuticals surpassed $10 billion for the first time last year, while production of such products also climbed to a new record high, government data showed on Thursday.

South Korean companies exported a total of $10.44 billion worth of pharmaceuticals in 2025, up 12.4 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, reports Yonhap news agency. Imports advanced 5.9 percent on-year to $8.93 billion.

Trade surplus from the product category rose 41.9 percent on-year to $1.56 billion, the highest on record, the data showed.

Biopharmaceuticals led exports, boosted by a growing market share of local biosimilar producers and improving competitiveness of their contract development and manufacturing capabilities, also known as CDMO.

South Korea produced a total of 33.8 trillion won worth of drugs last year, up 3 percent from a year earlier.

It marks the highest annual figure since the government started compiling such statistics in 1998, the ministry said.

Production growth grew the fastest in prescription-based medicine and finished drug products, advancing 5.3 percent and 3.7 percent on-year, respectively.

The annual average growth rate of drug production was 7.3 percent during the past five years, higher than the corresponding figure for South Korea's gross domestic product (GDP), which was 4.6 percent, the ministry explained.

There were four companies, including Celltrion Inc. and Hanmi Pharm Co., whose annual production surpassed 1 trillion won in 2025, according to the data.

In particular, Celltrion's drug production grew 27.6 percent on-year to top 3 trillion won (US$1.9 billion) in 2025, becoming the first local company to surpass the threshold.

Meanwhile, Seoul stocks opened sharply lower but pared earlier losses to trade nearly 3 percent lower on late Thursday morning, as an overnight selloff in U.S. semiconductor stocks pressured Korean chipmakers.

Due to the sharp drop, the bourse operator Korea Exchange (KRX) activated a sell-side sidecar for the KOSPI around 9:07 a.m., halting program trading for five minutes.

A sell-side sidecar is triggered when the KOSPI 200 Futures index decreases 5 percent or more for at least one minute.