Life expectancy in South Korea
South Korea: Life expectancy was 84.33 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in South Korea, 1908–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
In 2023, life expectancy in South Korea stood at 84.33 years. That is the highest value across all 82 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.9% on the previous year and up 3.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in South Korea peaked at 84.33 years in 2023 and was at its lowest, 22.23 years, in 1950.
South Korea ranks 5th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 82 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 23.51 years | 23.51 years | 23.51 years | 1 |
| 1910s | 25.98 years | 24.98 years | 26.98 years | 2 |
| 1920s | 31.57 years | 29.53 years | 33.6 years | 2 |
| 1930s | 39.98 years | 37.39 years | 42.57 years | 2 |
| 1940s | 44.89 years | 44.89 years | 44.89 years | 1 |
| 1950s | 42.69 years | 22.23 years | 52.94 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 56.79 years | 53.76 years | 61.43 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 64.14 years | 62.18 years | 66.11 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 68.15 years | 64.85 years | 70.68 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 73.28 years | 70.99 years | 75.62 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 78.33 years | 76.24 years | 80.55 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 82.32 years | 80.72 years | 83.68 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 83.65 years | 82.73 years | 84.33 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
- 2 San Marino 85.71 years compare
- 3 Hong Kong 85.51 years compare
- 4 Japan 84.71 years compare
- 6 Saint Barthelemy 84.29 years compare
- 7 French Polynesia 84.07 years compare
- 8 Andorra 84.04 years compare
More health data for South Korea
- Age population, age 11, female, interpolated 214,243 (2025)
- Age population, age 13, male, interpolated 243,678 (2025)
- Age population, age 13, female, interpolated 231,049 (2025)
- Age population, age 12, male, interpolated 234,551 (2025)
- Age population, age 12, female, interpolated 223,211 (2025)
- Age population, age 11, male, interpolated 224,514 (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above, male 17.9% (2025)
- Age population, age 10, female, interpolated 212,650 (2025)
- Age population, age 10, male, interpolated 222,946 (2025)
- Age population, age 14, female, interpolated 226,850 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in South Korea?
- Life expectancy in South Korea was 84.33 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 84.33 years in 2023.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 22.23 years in 1950.
- How does South Korea rank for life expectancy?
- South Korea ranks 5th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 82 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.