World Factbook
South Korea
Taehan-min'guk
Last updated: 2026-03-28 (today)
Literacy
male
NA
female
NA
total population
NA
Languages
Languages
Korean, English
major-language sample(s)
월드 팩트북, 필수적인 기본 정보 제공처 (Korean) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Protestant 17%, Buddhist 16%, Catholic 6%, none 60% (2021 est.)
note: many people also carry on at least some Confucian traditions and practices
Sex ratio
at birth
1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years
1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years
1.07 male(s)/female
total population
1.01 male(s)/female (2024 est.)
65 years and over
0.79 male(s)/female
Birth rate
4.29 births/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Death rate
6.94 deaths/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Median age
male
44 years
total
47 years (2025 est.)
female
47.3 years
Population
male
25,636,127
total
51,486,343 (2025 est.)
female
25,850,216
Nationality
noun
Korean(s)
adjective
Korean
Tobacco use
male
29.7% (2025 est.)
total
17.4% (2025 est.)
female
5.2% (2025 est.)
Urbanization
urban population
81.5% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization
0.31% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Age structure
0-14 years
11.3% (male 3,024,508/female 2,873,523)
15-64 years
69.4% (male 18,653,915/female 17,465,817)
65 years and over
19.3% (2024 est.) (male 4,440,688/female 5,623,348)
Ethnic groups
Korean
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio
44.9 (2025 est.)
youth dependency ratio
14.7 (2025 est.)
potential support ratio
3.3 (2025 est.)
elderly dependency ratio
30.2 (2025 est.)
Physician density
2.61 physicians/1,000 population (2022)
Health expenditure
Health expenditure (as % of GDP)
9.7% of GDP (2022)
Health expenditure (as % of national budget)
14.1% of national budget (2022 est.)
Net migration rate
1.76 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2025 est.)
Hospital bed density
12.8 beds/1,000 population (2021 est.)
Total fertility rate
0.68 children born/woman (2025 est.)
Drinking water source
improved: total
total: 100% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0% of population (2022 est.)
Education expenditure
5.8% of GDP (2022 est.)
Infant mortality rate
male
3 deaths/1,000 live births
total
2.2 deaths/1,000 live births (2025 est.)
female
2.6 deaths/1,000 live births
Population growth rate
-0.09% (2025 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.33 (2025 est.)
Population distribution
the population is primarily concentrated in the lowland areas, where density is high; Gyeonggi Province in the northwest, which surrounds the capital of Seoul and contains the port of Incheon, is the most densely populated province; Gangwon in the northeast is the least populated
Life expectancy at birth
male
80.3 years
female
86.6 years
total population
83.4 years (2024 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
4 deaths/100,000 live births (2023 est.)
Sanitation facility access
improved: total
total: 99.8% of population (2022 est.)
unimproved: total
total: 0.2% of population (2022 est.)
Alcohol consumption per capita
beer
1.72 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine
0.15 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
total
7.74 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits
0.22 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols
5.66 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Major urban areas - population
9.988 million SEOUL (capital), 3.472 million Busan, 2.849 million Incheon, 2.181 million Daegu (Taegu), 1.577 million Daejon (Taejon), 1.529 million Gwangju (Kwangju) (2023)
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
4.7% (2016)
Mother's mean age at first birth
32.2 years (2019 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
0.4% (2020 est.)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)
male
17 years (2022 est.)
total
17 years (2022 est.)
female
16 years (2022 est.)