Korea's 2021 bio sector output $15.4 bn; 5-year annual growth 20%

South Korea's bio industry last year exceeded 20 trillion won ($15.4 billion) in production for the first time and continues to see strong growth.

The results of a survey released on Thursday by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and Korea Biotechnology Industry Association on the sector's output, imports, exports, employment and investment said production last year reached 20.9 trillion won, up 22.1% from 2020.

Production in the industry exceeded 10 trillion won for the first time in 2017 (10.1 trillion won), followed by 10.6 trillion won in 2018, 12.6 trillion won in 2019 and 17.4 trillion won in 2020. Last year saw the sector cross the threshold of 20 trillion won.

Bio output over the last five years saw average annual growth of 19.9%.

By sector, biopharmaceuticals accounted for most of the industry's production with 27.8%, but that of biomedical devices surged to 25.1% thanks to the explosive growth of in vitro diagnostics spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The share of bioservices like contracted bio production and bioanalysis rose to 12.3% and that of biochemical energy such as biofuel, pesticide and cosmetics went up to 13.1%.

Last year, bio exports also grew 18% to 11.8 trillion won, their best performance since 10.1 trillion won in 2020 and breaking the 11 trillion won mark in a year for the first time.

Exports of biomedical devices rose 39% from 2020 due to higher exports of invitro diagnostic equipment, and the item's share of the sector's production surged from 30.2% to 35.6%.

Bio industry imports surged 96.2% to 4.7 trillion won, with those of biopharmaceuticals soaring 120.3% due to the import of vaccines against COVID-19. Those of biochemicals and energy grew 43.2% and those of biomedical devices rose 23.2%.

Write to So-Hyeon Kim at alpha@hankyung.com