Annual Medical Radiation Tests Exceed 400 Million... "Proper Use of CT with High Radiation Dose Needed"

The total number of medical radiation tests conducted in South Korea reached 431.59 million last year, averaging 8.4 tests per citizen.

According to the 2025 Annual Report on Medical Radiation Exposure in Korea released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the number of medical radiation examinations has been steadily increasing over the past five years.

Last year's test volume increased by 4.6% from the previous year, and marked a 29.6% jump compared to 2021.

The per capita radiation dose rose from 2.64 millisieverts (mSv) in 2021 to 3.24 mSv last year.

General X-ray imaging accounted for 76.4% of all medical radiation exams.

In terms of radiation dose, X-rays accounted for 27.4% of the total.

On the other hand, computed tomography (CT) scans made up 3.8% of all tests, but accounted for 67.1% of the total radiation dose.

While CT scans enable precise diagnoses of conditions affecting the brain, lungs, and abdomen, the radiation dose per scan is significantly higher than that of general X-rays.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.