Brand Finance’s Global Top 250 Hospitals 2025 report includes nine hospitals from South Korea
SEOUL, 6 February 2025 – Inha University Hospital is recognised by healthcare professionals as the world’s top performer for its advanced use and application of artificial intelligence (AI). Three other hospitals from the country are also excelling in this category and collectively rank among the top 100 academic medical centres (AMCs) featured in Brand Finance's Global Top 250 Hospitals 2025 rankings, according to a new report from Brand Finance, the world's leading brand valuation consultancy.
Among them, Seoul National University - Bundang Hospital, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, and Korea University Anam Hospital have earned positions in the top 100 globally, highlighting the country’s leadership in patient care, medical training, and healthcare innovation.
The country’s leading hospitals excelled in key metrics such as their ability to ‘adopt cutting-edge AI’ in medical practices, applying the ‘latest medical treatments’ and technologies, ‘attracting top-tier healthcare professionals’, and fostering a culture of medical progress and innovation. These institutions also performed highly in metrics such as contributing new research to the medical community and offering ‘strong medical training programs’, further reinforcing South Korea’s reputation as a hub for healthcare excellence.
Alex Haigh, Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Brand Finance, commented:
"South Korea’s strong showing in the rankings reflects the nation’s leadership in healthcare, especially in AI integration, medical research, and training. By continuing to prioritise these areas, South Korean hospitals are poised to further enhance their global reputation in the coming years.
“Brand Finance’s latest research among the world’s leading AMC hospitals emphasises the need to maintain a balanced focus on clinical care, research, and teaching to sustain and enhance global leadership."
The rankings also highlight opportunities for South Korean hospitals to continue expanding their focus on academic research and medical training, further strengthening their leadership in medical academia and innovation.
South Korea’s AMC institutions featured in this year’s report are as follows:
For the first time the study also highlights what makes a hospital attractive for employment and what drives healthcare professionals to recommend a hospital for patient care, research, or education.
When considering employment at hospitals:
When recommending hospitals:
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
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The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
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