Workers in oriental medicine clinics grew faster than in general clinics in Q3

The number of people working at oriental medicine clinics increased 10.4 percent year-on-year in the third quarter, far surpassing the growth rate of 6.1 percent recorded by workers employed at general clinics.

The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) announced the health industry employment trends for the third quarter of 2024 on Monday.

According to the report, the number of health industry workers in the third quarter of 2024 was 1,081,000, an increase of 34,000, or 3.3 percent, from a year ago.

By age, the number of workers aged 60 and over increased by 8.1 percent and those in their 50s by 7.1 percent, while the number of workers aged 29 and under decreased by 1.8 percent year-on-year due to the decline in the youth population and population aging.

By industry, the pharmaceutical industry had the highest growth rate, at 3.4 percent, followed by medical services (3.3 percent) and the medical device industry (1.9 percent).

Specifically, the number of workers in the medical service industry, which accounted for 82.9 percent of all health industry workers in the third quarter of 2024, increased 3.3 percent from a year earlier to 900,000.

By sector, the number of workers in oriental medicine clinics grew the most at 10.4 percent, followed by general clinics at 6.1 percent and radiology and pathology clinics at 5.2 percent.

In the third quarter of 2024, 8,782 new jobs were created in the health industry, 7,415 of which were in healthcare services, including healthcare workers. This was followed by 628 in the pharmaceutical industry and 380 in the medical device industry.

By occupation, the number of new jobs for health and medical workers was the highest at 2,697, accounting for 30.7 percent, followed by doctors, oriental medicine practitioners, and dentists at 1,771, 20.2 percent, nurses at 1,705, 19.4 percent, medical technicians, therapists, and rehabilitators at 417, 4.7 percent, and simple manufacturing workers at 368, 4.2 percent.

The pharmaceutical industry saw the lowest growth rate in the number of companies in the third quarter, at 1.1 percent, but the number of workers increased by 3.4 percent year over year.

By subdivision, the number of workers in the finished drug manufacturing industry grew the most at 4.1 percent, followed by 2.6 percent in the herb medicine manufacturing industry, 2.0 percent in the biologics manufacturing industry, and 1.5 percent in the medicinal compounds and antibiotics manufacturing industry.

In contrast, the medical device industry showed a slowdown in growth rate, with a 1.9 percent increase in the number of workers. This is likely due to a slowed growth rate of the number of workers in workplaces hiring between 30 and 300 employees, which has the largest share of workers.

By sector, the growth rate of the number of workers in the “electric diagnostic and therapeutic devices manufacturing industry” was the highest at 3.9 percent, followed by the “orthopedic and body correction devices manufacturing industry at 3.1 percent, and the “radiation devices manufacturing industry” at 3.0 percent.