More than half of acne patients are adults in their 20s and 30s. As the number of acne patients continues to increase, medical expenses for acne patients also exceeded 10 billion won ($7.83 million) last year.

On Thursday, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) released the analysis results of the health insurance treatment status of acne (L70) patients from 2018 to 2022 using health insurance treatment data.

The number of acne patients increased by 29.4 percent from 94,096 in 2018 to 121,746 in 2022. The average annual growth rate was 6.6 percent.

Twenty-somethings accounted for nearly half of all acne patients in 2022, with 47.0 percent, or 57,190 people. Teens accounted for 22.1 percent (26,957), followed by 18.7 percent (22,723) in their 30s. For both men and women, 20-somethings showed the highest share by age.

The number of acne patients increased by 28.8 percent to 237 per 100,000. Among all age groups, those in their 20s showed the largest share, with 863 patients per 100,000.

In 2022, medical expenses for acne patients totaled 10.15 billion won, up 46.2 percent from 2018, recording an average annual growth rate of 10.0 percent. The cost per patient was 83,375 won, an increase of 13.0 percent from 2018.

“Acne begins to appear in late teens, but they don't visit doctors often because they are busy studying. As they reach their 20s, their social activities increase, and their desire to treat acne increases, so they visit doctors a lot,” said Dr. Lee Jin-wook, a professor of dermatology at NHIS Ilsan Hospital, explaining the reason for the increase in acne patients in their 20s and 30s: