South Koreans are now expected to spend an average of 18.2 years of their later life living with illness, even as overall life expectancy hit a record high in 2024, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
The ministry’s biennial report showed that the nation’s healthy life expectancy stood at 65.5 years in 2024, meaning people are expected to live that long without disease or disability. The figure is slightly down from 65.8 years in 2022 and 66.3 years in 2020.
“The small fluctuation may reflect changes in people’s clinic-visiting patterns after the COVID-19 pandemic, which are now appearing more clearly in the statistics on how often people get sick,” a Statistics Ministry official said.
With life expectancy rising, the average number of years lived in ill health increased to 18.2 years, the highest level since it peaked at 18.3 years in 2018.
Life expectancy at birth reached 83.7 years in 2024. Women are expected to live 86.6 years, compared with 80.8 years for men, both exceeding the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development average by more than two years.
As the longer period of ill health signals a growing burden on Korea’s health care financing system, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it is placing greater emphasis on preventive measures.
“Through the national health checkup program, a key platform for preventive health management, we will strengthen early detection, follow-up management and lifestyle improvements to extend healthy life years for the entire population,” said the Health Ministry official.
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