Outpatient visits by Korea's people turned to a slight decline for the first time in four years, but remained at a high level, about three times the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) average.
According to the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service (HIRA)'s Medical service utilization statistics on the 7th, the number of outpatient visits to doctors (including Korean medicine doctors and excluding dentists) per person in 2024 was 17.9, down 0.6% from the previous year (18.0). This is the first decrease in outpatient use since 2020, when it temporarily fell due to COVID-19.
However, the drop was limited. The number of outpatient visits by Korea's people was 2.98 times the OECD member country average (6.0 in 2023), still higher than in major countries. Given that outpatient visit frequency is a key indicator of access to care, domestic access to medical care is interpreted as very high.
Including dentistry, the total number of outpatient visits was 1,013,980,000. By sex, men accounted for 448,710,000 and women for 565,270,000, with higher use among women. The per-capita outpatient visit rate was also higher for women, at 21.8 times, compared with 17.3 for men.
By age, the 20–24 group had the lowest rate at 8.7 per person, then steadily increased with age, peaking at 40.8 in the 75–79 group.
By disease category, diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue, including arthritis and osteoporosis, were the most common at 198,620,000 visits. That amounts to 3.8 outpatient visits per person per year.
By type of medical institution, clinic-level use was overwhelming. Of the total 1,013,980,000 outpatient visits, clinics accounted for 616,980,000 (69.8%). The number of outpatient visits per person at clinics was 11.9. This shows that the structure concentrating outpatient use in primary care continues.
By region, Seoul and Daegu were highest at 22.7 per person, followed by Busan (22.3), Daejeon (21.8) and North Jeolla (21.3).
Meanwhile, in an intensive care unit bed indicator newly submitted at the OECD's request, the number of beds showed an upward trend. Adult ICU beds rose 20.7% from 8,273 in 2018 to 9,988 in 2024, and pediatric ICU beds increased 28.9% from 142 to 183.
In contrast, neonatal intensive care beds rose only 2.2% from 1,812 to 1,852. Over the same period, the adult ICU bed occupancy rate fell from 66.1% to 55.3%.