East Asia & Pacific · High income
South Korea: key statistics
South Korea has 51.7m people (2025) and a GDP per person of $36,227. Below: 77 indicators with the latest year, world rank and change over ten years.
- Capital
- Seoul
- Region
- East Asia & Pacific
- Income group
- High income
- Currency
- won, Korean mun KRW
- Languages
- Korean, Korean Sign Language
- ISO codes
- KRKOR
- Land neighbours
- China, Japan, North Korea
Population51.7m2025 · rank 29 of 217GDP$1.9tn2025 · rank 13 of 211GDP per capita$36,2272025 · rank 47 of 211Life expectancy83.6 yrs2024 · rank 14 of 217Internet users97.9%2024 · rank 13 of 188Fertility0.752024 · rank 216 of 217CO₂ per person11.36 t2024 · rank 17 of 203Inflation2.1%2025 · rank 119 of 180
topic profiles
South Korea, topic by topic
Each profile brings together the indicators of one topic with world and regional rank, values since 2000, group averages and a comparison with neighbours.
Population
South Korea
GDP per capita
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificWorld
Life expectancy
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificWorld
Internet users
South KoreaEast Asia & PacificWorld
all indicators
South Korea by topic
World rank counts countries with a value in the recent window; regional rank is within East Asia & Pacific.
PopulationFull population profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Population | 51.7m | 2025 | 29/217 | 8/37 | +1.3% | 8.2bn | |
| Population growth | -0.13% | 2025 | 182/217 | 27/37 | −0.7 pp | 0.91% | |
| Urban share | 81.2% | 2025 | 54/217 | 10/37 | −0.5 pp | 57.8% | |
| Fertility | 0.75 | 2024 | 216/217 | 36/37 | −38% | 2.19 | |
| Aged 65+ | 20.3% | 2025 | 36/217 | 3/37 | +7.4 pp | 10.4% | |
| Aged 0–14 | 10.2% | 2025 | 217/217 | 37/37 | −3.6 pp | 24.4% | |
| Density | 530.2 | 2024 | 23/216 | 5/37 | +1.8% | 62.1 | |
| Birth rate | 4.7 | 2024 | 216/217 | 37/37 | −45% | 16.3 | |
| Area | 100,460 km² | 2024 | 109/216 | 16/37 | +0.2% | 140,539,257 km² |
EconomyFull economy profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GDP | $1.9tn | 2025 | 13/211 | 3/36 | +22% | $118tn | |
| GDP per capita | $36,227 | 2025 | 47/211 | 7/36 | +20% | $14,406 | |
| GDP per capita, PPP | $63,125 | 2025 | 35/199 | 6/31 | +59% | $25,704 | |
| GNI per capita | $37,880 | 2025 | 36/201 | 7/33 | +26% | $14,244 | |
| GDP growth | 1.0% | 2025 | 174/210 | 32/36 | −1.9 pp | 2.9% | |
| GDP per capita growth | 1.1% | 2025 | 141/210 | 28/36 | −1.2 pp | 2.0% | |
| Agriculture share | 1.5% | 2025 | 161/198 | 25/29 | −0.4 pp | 4.0% | |
| Industry share | 34.3% | 2025 | 36/201 | 10/30 | −0.8 pp | 25.0% | |
| Services share | 57.2% | 2025 | 105/201 | 17/30 | +2.1 pp | 63.3% | |
| Investment | 29.1% | 2025 | 38/175 | 10/27 | −0.2 pp | 26.3% | |
| Savings | 35.6% | 2025 | 19/163 | 8/25 | −0.2 pp | 26.0% |
Prices & public financeFull prices & public finance profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inflation | 2.1% | 2025 | 119/180 | 14/27 | +1.4 pp | 3.0% | |
| Real interest rate | 1.0% | 2025 | 110/136 | 20/24 | +0.7 pp | — | |
| Lending rate | 4.2% | 2025 | 128/136 | 22/24 | +0.7 pp | — | |
| Exchange rate | 1,422.44 | 2025 | 21/210 | 6/36 | +26% | — | |
| Government debt | 47.8% | 2024 | 44/78 | 10/17 | +13.0 pp | — | |
| Tax revenue | 13.3% | 2024 | 96/142 | 19/25 | +0.7 pp | 13.9% | |
| Government expense | 28.3% | 2023 | 61/142 | 10/25 | +5.4 pp | 28.5% | |
| Military spending | 2.60% | 2025 | 38/156 | 4/18 | +0.2 pp | 2.48% |
Trade & investmentFull trade & investment profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Exports | 45.8% | 2025 | 63/184 | 13/32 | +4.8 pp | 29.5% | |
| Imports | 40.6% | 2025 | 102/184 | 25/32 | +6.2 pp | 28.5% | |
| Trade openness | 86.4% | 2025 | 86/184 | 20/32 | +11.0 pp | 68.5% | |
| Current account | 6.6% | 2025 | 28/185 | 10/29 | −0.3 pp | — | |
| FDI inflows | 0.8% | 2025 | 148/197 | 25/32 | +0.6 pp | 1.4% | |
| Remittances | 0.4% | 2025 | 143/178 | 19/26 | ±0.0 pp | 0.8% | |
| Tourist arrivals | 2.5m | 2020 | 58/196 | 10/35 | −71% | 2.4bn |
LabourFull labour profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment | 2.7% | 2025 | 159/187 | 18/29 | −0.9 pp | 4.8% | |
| Youth unemployment | 6.7% | 2025 | 149/187 | 20/29 | −3.2 pp | 13.4% | |
| Participation rate | 64.4% | 2025 | 71/187 | 15/29 | +1.8 pp | 61.0% | |
| Women's participation | 56.8% | 2025 | 66/187 | 13/29 | +4.4 pp | 48.9% |
Aid, poverty & equalityFull aid, poverty & equality profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net ODA received | −$55.1m | 1999 | — | — | — | $259bn | |
| ODA, % of GNI | 0.0% | 1999 | — | — | — | 0.2% | |
| ODA per person | −$1.2 | 1999 | — | — | — | $32.2 | |
| Extreme poverty | 0.1% | 2021 | 136/151 | 14/17 | −0.4 pp | 10.1% | |
| Poverty, $4.20/day | 0.2% | 2021 | 134/151 | 15/17 | −0.7 pp | 18.2% | |
| Gini index | 32.9 | 2021 | 98/151 | 10/17 | +2.8% | — | |
| Undernourishment | 2.5% | 2024 | 158/167 | 23/23 | ±0.0 pp | 8.1% | |
| Women in parliament | 20.3% | 2025 | 122/190 | 13/30 | +4.0 pp | 27.2% |
EducationFull education profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adult literacy | 98.0% | 2008 | — | — | — | 87.7% | |
| Female literacy | 97.6% | 2008 | — | — | — | 84.6% | |
| Primary enrolment | 100.9% | 2024 | 90/191 | 14/30 | +1.4 pp | 102.2% | |
| Secondary enrolment | 96.3% | 2024 | 76/176 | 10/26 | −2.3 pp | 77.3% | |
| Tertiary enrolment | 111.9% | 2024 | 5/172 | 3/27 | +17.4 pp | 43.6% | |
| Primary completion | 102.9% | 2024 | 21/168 | 5/26 | +4.6 pp | 88.0% | |
| Pupils per teacher | 16.3 | 2017 | 102/173 | 19/27 | −36% | 23.4 | |
| Education spending | 5.4% | 2022 | 42/184 | 9/29 | +2.2 pp | 3.6% |
HealthFull health profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy | 83.6 yrs | 2024 | 14/217 | 4/37 | +2.3% | 73.5 yrs | |
| Infant mortality | 2.3 | 2024 | 181/196 | 28/30 | −21% | 27.7 | |
| Under-5 mortality | 2.8 | 2024 | 180/196 | 28/30 | −22% | 37.4 | |
| Maternal mortality | 4 | 2023 | 180/194 | 28/30 | −43% | 197 | |
| Health spending | 8.7% | 2024 | 50/193 | 11/29 | +2.4 pp | 10.1% | |
| Health spending per person | $3,137 | 2024 | 29/193 | 5/29 | +63% | $1,317 | |
| Physicians | 2.61 | 2022 | 71/180 | 7/25 | +24% | 1.86 | |
| Measles vaccination | 97% | 2024 | 42/193 | 7/30 | −2.0 pp | 84% | |
| Child stunting | 0.9% | 2020 | 153/154 | 25/25 | −1.6 pp | — | |
| Basic water | 100.0% | 2024 | 29/206 | 9/37 | +0.7 pp | 91.5% | |
| Basic sanitation | 99.7% | 2024 | 30/203 | 9/37 | −0.2 pp | 82.2% |
Digital & energy accessFull digital & energy access profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Internet users | 97.9% | 2024 | 13/188 | 2/28 | +10.3 pp | 73.6% | |
| Mobile subscriptions | 172.5 | 2024 | 18/210 | 5/34 | +52% | 111.5 | |
| Fixed broadband | 47.8 | 2024 | 8/208 | 1/34 | +26% | 20.1 | |
| Electricity access | 100.0% | 2024 | 100/215 | 17/36 | ±0.0 pp | 91.9% | |
| Clean cooking | 100.0% | 2024 | 37/192 | 6/30 | ±0.0 pp | 75.4% |
EnvironmentFull environment profile
| Indicator | Value | Year | World rank | In region | 10-year change | World | Since 2000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CO₂ per person | 11.36 t | 2024 | 17/203 | 5/37 | −8.6% | 4.69 t | |
| Renewable energy | 3.6% | 2021 | 171/212 | 27/37 | +2.2 pp | 19.7% | |
| Renewable power | 6.7% | 2021 | 151/206 | 25/35 | +4.6 pp | 27.8% | |
| Forest cover | 64.4% | 2024 | 23/214 | 10/35 | −0.8 pp | 31.1% | |
| Arable land | 13.3% | 2024 | 79/206 | 8/34 | −1.8 pp | 10.7% | |
| Water withdrawals | 45.0% | 2022 | 33/177 | 1/20 | ±0.0 pp | 9.0% |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)
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