SETTING : Despite the clinical importance of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), its epidemiology has been rarely reported. The economic burden from IPF is therefore difficult to predict. OBJECTIVE: To analyse the health care burden and current situation with respect to medical resource utilisation in patients with IPF in Korea. METHODS: We analysed nationwide data collected between 2009 and 2013 from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment (HIRA) database. Patients with IPF were defined by the K-J84.18 code of the Korean Classification of Disease, 6th revision. RESULTS: The total direct health care costs increased from US$19 805 167 in 2009 to US$31 410 083 in 2013; the principal factor responsible for the highest proportion of costs was hospitalisation. The proportion of the total IPF patient population who were hospitalised at least once a year was 27.2%, and the average length of hospital stay was 12.7 days. From post-hoc analysis, hospital admission, emergency room visit and intensive care unit admission rates showed significant seasonal variations; the admission rates were highest in the spring and lowest in autumn. CONCLUSIONS: Health care costs of IPF are increasing annually, with hospital admissions representing the major financial burden.