The number of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests in South Korea is more than double the OECD average as more people go for expensive imaging even for light symptoms since the country’s universal health insurance coverage expanded in 2018, a survey showed Thursday.

The number of MRI scans jumped by 127.9 percent in 2019 from the previous year and 134.4 percent in 2020. As of 2020, the number of medical imaging tests per 1,000 people was 229.5 for CT and 167.8 for MRI, which is significantly higher than the OECD average of 151.4 and 80.4, respectively, according to the survey released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

The number of expensive medical imaging equipment owned by domestic hospitals and clinics was also higher than the OECD average. Korea has 40.1 CTs, 33.6 MRIs, and 3.6 PETs per 1 million people. The OECD average was 25.8, 17.0, and 2.4, respectively, as of 2019.

Meanwhile, the number of medical institutions in Korea has increased at an average annual rate of 1.8 percent since 2016, with a total of 96,742 registered as of 2020, according to the survey. Of these, the number of nursing hospitals increased the most, growing from 1,428 in 2016 to 1,582 in 2020, which is an annual average increase of 2.6 percent. Korea has the highest number of nursing beds per 1,000 population among OECD countries. The number of nursing beds per 1,000 people in Korea is 5.3, which is 8.8 times higher than the OECD average.

The number of hospital beds per 1,000 people in Korea was 13.2, which is three times higher than the OECD average of 4.4. On the other hand, the number of physicians per 1,000 population was only 0.7 times the OECD average.

The number of hospitalized patients increased from 12.8 million in 2016 to 2019 to 13 million. However, in 2020, the figure decreased to 11.3 million due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The average length of hospital stays also increased from 14.9 days in 2016 to 16.1 days in 2020, which is twice as high as the OECD average of 8.0 days.

With the increased hospitalizations, the average medical expenses continued to rise from 2.26 million won ($1,700) in 2016 to 3.43 million won in 2020.

By Yoo Joo-yeon and Minu Kim

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