South Korea Computed Tomography Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends & Forecasts (2025 - 2030)

South Korea Computed Tomography Market Trends and Insights

Increasing Prevalence of Chronic Diseases

The national burden of cancer, cardiovascular illness, and chronic lung disorders is shifting CT from episodic investigation to routine surveillance. The lung-cancer screening arm of the National Health Screening Program offers low-dose CT to smokers aged 55-74, and participation jumped 28% in 2025 after policy refinements that added never-smokers at elevated risk. Cardiac CT is now a first-line gatekeeper for stable chest pain, replacing invasive angiography in many centers and easing waiting lists for catheter labs. Oncology follow-up programs standardize thin-slice contrast protocols to detect sub-centimeter lesions that earlier scanners missed, fuelling steady hardware upgrades. Diagnostic imaging centers in suburban districts have responded by extending hours and adding dual-source CT suites dedicated to outpatient scans. These patterns ensure that the South Korea computed tomography market will remain integral to chronic-disease management nationwide.

Rising Geriatric Population & Screening Demand

South Korea crossed the “super-aged” threshold in 2025, and CT volumes mirror the demographic pivot. The Transitional-Age Screening Program now reimburses thoraco-lumbar CT for osteoporosis in women aged 66, normalizing CT as a preventive tool rather than a last-resort test. Emergency departments report a spike in head CT for falls and cerebrovascular events among seniors, while facial bone CT grew 3,118% over the past decade. Dose-reduction algorithms grounded in deep learning alleviate clinician concern about cumulative exposure, permitting frequent follow-up scans for chronic subdural hematoma and other age-linked conditions. Mobile CT caravans outfitted with 64-slice scanners now travel to provincial clinics on fixed schedules, closing the urban–rural imaging gap.

Government NHIS Expansion Covering CT Procedures

NHIS policy updates effective January 2025 cut patient copayments to 10% for most CT-based cancer checks and broadened reimbursement to include AI-assisted image reconstruction. The Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service simultaneously raised facility fees for CT, improving hospital ROI and hastening replacement of legacy single-slice units. Public hospitals immediately tendered for medium-slice platforms that embed smart-scan protocols to meet mandated radiation benchmarks. Vendors partner with provincial authorities to pilot bulk-procurement schemes that align payment with dose-performance metrics, ensuring rapid adoption even in smaller county hospitals.

Rapid AI-Based Workflow & Image-Quality Upgrades

Deep-learning reconstruction now reduces radiation by 75% while preserving lesion conspicuity on sub-millimeter sections. Clinical trials at Samsung Medical Center showed a 33% rise in referral rates after AI triage flagged incidental pulmonary nodules in out-patient scans, underscoring AI’s role in case-finding. High-performance GPUs embedded in new CT consoles accelerate iterative reconstruction, trimming average thorax scan time from 12 minutes to under 5. Hospital groups integrate AI dashboards into EMRs, allowing radiologists to batch-approve normal studies and focus on flagged cases. These gains drive green-lighting for capital projects even under the stricter 2025 Digital Medical Products Act because buyers can demonstrate improved productivity and patient safety.

High Upfront & Lifecycle Costs of CT Scanners

Capital outlays remain the single biggest hurdle for district hospitals, where 23.6% of installed scanners are older than 10 years. New photon-counting CT systems cost up to USD 2.3 million, and service contracts can exceed USD 150,000 annually, straining operating budgets. Facilities often extend scan hours to amortize equipment faster, a practice that risks marginal indications creeping into routine use. Service-life uncertainty compounds the burden: software obsolescence now arrives in five-year cycles, forcing recurrent upgrade negotiations or the prospect of network isolation. The government’s depreciation allowance and low-interest borrowing schemes partly cushion the impact, yet smaller providers still hesitate to purchase leading-edge systems.

Stringent MFDS Regulatory & Reimbursement Review

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety re-classified AI-embedded CT scanners as Class IV devices under the 2025 Digital Medical Products Act, requiring dossier submissions that include multi-center clinical validation and real-world post-market surveillance plans ^{[1]Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, "Approval Process," mfds.go.kr}. Approval timelines have lengthened to 12-18 months, delaying product launches and squeezing vendor marketing cycles. Simultaneously, the reimbursement gatekeeper demands cost-effectiveness evidence, pushing manufacturers to bundle AI software licenses with hardware under usage-based pricing. While patients ultimately benefit from higher safety thresholds, the regulatory load can stall refreshing of aging fleets, especially in non-profit provincial hospitals.

Segment Analysis

By Product Type – Medium Slice Systems Drive Technology Transition

Medium-slice scanners commanded significant unit demand in 2025, and they are set to expand at 8.35% CAGR as hospitals seek high-throughput performance without premium-tier price tags. The South Korea computed tomography market size for medium-slice platforms is projected to climb steadily alongside outpatient imaging-center openings. Enhanced cooling systems and integrated dual-energy modes now allow 80-slice models to match diagnostic reach once limited to 128-slice equipment.  

High-slice systems still capture 34.98% of revenue by enabling whole-heart imaging in a single beat and ultra-low-dose pediatric protocols. Their dominance is reinforced by tertiary hospitals that rely on multi-phase oncology staging and trauma algorithms requiring sub-second rotation times. Low-slice units remain viable for extremity studies and interventional suites but their share erodes as refurbished 64-slice devices undercut entry-level models. Competitive pricing from Siemens Healthineers’ Somatom Pro.Pulse lowers capital barriers, ensuring medium-slice scanners remain the workhorse segment of the South Korea computed tomography market ^{[2]Siemens Healthineers, “Somatom Pro.Pulse Dual Source CT Launch Release,” siemens-healthineers.com} .

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Application – Neurology Accelerates Amid Stroke-Care Expansion

Oncology preserved 32.45% revenue in 2024 as national screening mandates anchor CT in tumor detection, staging, and radiotherapy planning. The South Korea computed tomography market share for oncology will stabilize as PET-CT gains ground, yet absolute scan counts rise with a growing survivor population needing quarterly follow-ups ^{[3]Min Cheol Han, "The first Korean carbon-ion radiation therapy facility: current status of the Heavy-ion Therapy Center at the Yonsei Cancer Center," Radiation Oncology Journal, e-roj.org}.  

Neurology outpaces every specialty at 8.56% CAGR, fueled by nationwide hyper-acute stroke centers that demand 24/7 CT perfusion and angiography. AI-powered large-vessel-occlusion detection assists junior residents during night shifts, trimming door-to-needle times. Cardiovascular indications maintain a reliable baseline, with coronary CT-angiography replacing treadmill tests in many health-check packages. Musculoskeletal requests climb on sports-injury management and geriatric fractures. Emerging fields such as CT-guided pain therapies and pediatric congenital-heart imaging keep broadening the clinical map for the South Korea computed tomography market.

By Mobility – Mobile Systems Gain Traction Through Pandemic-Proven Flexibility

Fixed rooms remain the backbone, contributing 65.51% of revenue and handling poly-trauma, multi-phase oncology, and large-volume emergency loads. Their permanence facilitates radiation-shielding optimization and smooth integration with pneumatic-tube specimen systems.  

Mobile CT posts an 8.87% CAGR as provincial governments fund truck-mounted units that visit county clinics on rotation schedules. During 2024, mobile scanners in Busan processed more than 6,000 chest CTs and cut patient transfer by 37%, validating the model’s economics. Remote control consoles let central radiologists protocol and read studies in real time over secure 5G links. Manufacturers are now releasing 128-slice mobile variants with battery-assist generators, extending service windows during power outages and disaster relief deployments.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By End User – Diagnostic Centers Capitalize on Privatization Trends

Hospitals commanded 48.97% revenue in 2024 because emergency, oncology, and inpatient pathways rely on in-house CT. Proton-therapy planning further entrenches large academic centers, which demand sub-millimeter isotropic datasets compatible with carbon-ion dose-calculation engines.  

Diagnostic imaging centers exhibit 8.81% CAGR, boosted by consumer preference for shorter wait times and transparent pricing. Operators invest in AI-enhanced scheduling platforms that cut idle gantry time below 5% and support extended evening clinics. Other users—research institutes, veterinary hospitals, and device-trial sites—remain small in value but innovative in scope, piloting photon-counting detectors and novel contrast media. Their experiments shape future procurement standards for the South Korea computed tomography market.

Geography Analysis

The capital megaplex of Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi generated well over half of 2024 CT revenue, reflecting dense population, multi-hospital clusters, and the earliest adoption of dual-source and spectral technologies. High-profile academic centers such as Asan Medical and Seoul National University Hospital act as reference sites, catalyzing peer adoption across the South Korea computed tomography market. 

Secondary metros—Busan, Daegu, and Gwangju—now log double-digit scan growth as city councils co-fund equipment upgrades to retain patients who previously traveled to Seoul. Rural provinces, although starting from a smaller installed base, present the fastest percentage gains owing to KRW 10 trillion in central grants earmarked for regional hospital modernization. Mobile CT caravans bridge long travel distances, performing nearly 40% of annual scans in Gangwon’s mountainous districts.  

Medical tourism adds an international layer: 606,000 foreign patients entered South Korea in 2024, a 144.2% rise year-on-year. Many select premium health-check packages that combine coronary CT-angiography with low-dose lung and abdomen studies, sustaining high-end scanner utilization in urban flagship clinics. Government targets of 700,000 inbound patients by 2027 should further widen the South Korea computed tomography market across hospitality-linked medical complexes.