South Korea Ophthalmic Devices Market Size

South Korea Ophthalmic Devices Market Analysis

The South Korean ophthalmic devices market is expected to register a CAGR of 4.2% during the forecast period.

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in considerable service reductions throughout the NHS, with ophthalmology being one of the most severely impacted specialties. According to the study published in March 2022 by the Journal of Clinical Medicine, overall, 121,042 patients were scheduled to visit the Sanggye Paik Hospital Ophthalmology Department. The cancellation rate was 19.13% during pre-COVID-19, 24.13% during early COVID-19, and 17.34% during late COVID-19. The reasons for not visiting the clinic included a hospital, patient, and contact factors; hospitalization in other departments and hospitals; and death. Thus, the COVID-19 pandemic severely curtailed ophthalmology service clinical activities, impacting the market's growth in its initial phase.

Furthermore, ophthalmic devices are medical equipment for diagnosis, surgical, and vision correction purposes. These devices gained substantial importance due to the high prevalence of various ophthalmic diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, and other vision-related issues across the nation.

Per the research article published in BMC Medical Research, 2022, Dry eye disease (DED) is a rising public health problem in ophthalmology, and its prevalence among middle-aged and elderly individuals ranges from 7% to 34% in South Korea. Cataract surgery is considered the most commonly performed surgery in South Korea. Moreover, as per an article published in April 2022 by Alex Delaney-Gesing, researchers selected 145 students in the first grade of the school with the lowest daylight factor (0.51%) and 147 students in the first grade of the school with the highest daylight factor (13.35%). Hence, as the number of eye disorders increases, a tremendous demand for ophthalmic devices for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes drives the market's growth over the forecast period. However, the risk associated with ophthalmic procedures is expected to hinder the market's growth.

The increasing launches by manufacturers to meet the growing demand for innovative products are expected to drive the market's growth. For instance, in July 2022, Baxter launched its Welch Allyn RetinaVue 100 Imager PRO in South Korea. The device was designed to make diabetic retinopathy screening simple and affordable in primary care settings. Similarly, in August 2021, Eyenovia Inc. announced they entered into an exclusive license agreement for Arctic Vision to develop and commercialize MicroPine for the treatment of progressive myopia and MicroLine for the treatment of presbyopia in South Korea. Such factors drive the demand for the adoption of ophthalmic devices in South Korea.

However, the risk associated with ophthalmic procedures is expected to hamper the South Korean ophthalmic devices market growth.