BIO industry in DGFEZ

Korean pharmaceutical production and company status
The average annual growth rate of the pharmaceutical sector over the past five years (2014-2018) was 6.5%, which is 2.1% point higher than the overall manufacturing growth rate (4.4%).
* Annual average growth rate (2014-2018): total industry (4.6%), manufacturing industry (4.4%), pharmaceuticals (6.5%)
Drug production in Korea was USD 19.18 billion in 2018, up 3.7% from USD 18.5 billion in 2017.
- In 2018, pharmaceutical production accounted for 1.18% of GDP, and the share in the manufacturing sector was 4.35%, the highest level in the last five years.
The number of drug companies in 2018 was 399 for finished drugs and raw materials, and 132 for herbal medicine. As for the number of items, there were 19,520 for finished medicines, 1,590 for drug substances and 5,110 for herbal medicines.

1.2 Industrial Competitiveness 
Korea leading the world in clinical trial competitiveness
According to the Korea National Enterprise for Clinical Trials, Korea ranks 7th in the world for global clinical trial market share.
* Ranking of Korea by year: 7th (2014) → 7th (2015) → 8th (2016) → 6th (2017) → 7th (2018)
* Country rankings (2018): (1st) the U.S., (2nd) UK, (3rd) China, (4th) Germany, (5th) Canada
- Seoul remains the world's top in terms of city share
* Rankings of Seoul by year: (1st) (2014) → 2nd (2015) → 3rd (2016) → 1st (2017) → 1st (2018)
* City rankings: (2018): (1st) Seoul, (2nd) Houston, (3rd) Madrid, (4th) New York, (5th) Miami

Korea listed on the EU whitelist 
In May 2019, Korea became the 7th country to be listed on the EU white list (countries exempt from written GMP written confirmation)
- Korea, listed 7th, after Switzerland, Australia, Japan, the U.S., Israel and Brazil
- In recognition of the GMP operating system for Korean drug substances or the quality of drug substances of Korean pharmaceutical companies, Korea is now exempt from the written GMP confirmation requirement when exporting Korean 
drug substances.
* Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP): Pharmaceutical manufacturing and quality control standards established by the World Health Organization (WHO)
* Written GMP Confirmation: A document by which the regulatory authority of the producing country confirms that the drug substances produced by the pharmaceutical company have 
been managed according to the same standards as EU GMP