Sales increased by nearly 200%! South Korea's "pharmaceutical store economy" breaks out, and foreigners rush to buy "this beauty"

South Korean beauty products are popular all over the world, driving the local "drug store economy" to flourish. When more and more tourists travel to South Korea, they go to drug stores to buy beauty products. The number of drug stores in downtown Seoul is increasing day by day.

Yonhap News Agency reported on the 8th based on various sources that the number of drug stores in Jung-gu, Seoul, increased from 177 in October 2025 to 214 in October 2026, an increase of 20.9%, ranking first among the 25 administrative districts in Seoul.

In Mapo-gu, where the Hongdae business district is popular with tourists from all over the world, the number of drugstores increased by 10.4%; in Seongdong-gu, where Seongsu-dong, a popular tourist attraction, is located, the number of drugstores also increased by 9.4%.

According to statistics from the tourism database "South Korea Tourism Data Laboratory", from January to September this year, the medical consumption of tourists from various countries in South Korea increased by 57.9% compared with the same period last year, reaching 1.8398 billion won (approximately NT$44.62 billion). It is estimated that the amount of money spent by foreigners in South Korean drug stores increased significantly by 196.1% during the same period.

A pharmacist who runs a drug store in Myeongdong, Seoul, told Yonhap News Agency that almost all of the customers who come to shop are foreigners, and most of them buy cosmetics and skin care products, especially spot-bleaching products.