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

According to Yonhap News Agency, imports advanced 5.9 percent on-year to $8.93 billion. The trade surplus from the product category rose 41.9 percent on-year to $1.56 billion, marking the highest on record. Biopharmaceuticals led exports, driven 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. This marks the highest annual figure since the government started compiling such statistics in 1998, the ministry said. Production growth was 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.

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.