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Adolescent birth rate (per 1000 women aged 15-19 years), 2016-2025: 0.4
Adolescent birth rate (per 1000 women aged 10-14 years), 2016-2025: 0.0
Proportion of population with positive out-of-pocket household expenditures on health exceeding 40 per cent of household discretionary budget (%), 2016-2024: 9.65%
Prevalence of stunting in children under 5 (%), 2024: 1.8%
Prevalence of wasting in children under 5 (%), 2016-2024: 0.0%
Prevalence of overweight in children under 5 (%), 2024: 5.5%
Prevalence of anaemia in women aged 15-49 years (%), 2023: 15.7%

Source: World health statistics 2026: Monitoring health for the SDGs, Sustainable Development Goals. Tables of health statistics by country and area, WHO region and globally (last accessed May 13, 2026). Geneva: World Health Organization; 2026. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO.

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Adolescent Birth Rate (Births Per 1,000 Adolescent Girls and Young Women), 2017-2023:
– Aged 10-14: 0
– Aged 15-19: 0
Share of Household Income, 2015-2023:
– Bottom 40%: 20%
– Top 20%: 40%
– Bottom 20%: 8%
Gini Coefficient, 2015-2023: 33
Palma Index of Income Inequality, 2015-2023: 1.2

Notes: Adolescent birth rate – Number of births per 1,000 adolescent girls and young women aged 10–14 and
15–19.
Share of household income – Percentage of income received by the 20 per cent of households with the highest income, by the 40 per cent of households with the lowest income and by the 20 per cent of households with the lowest income.
Gini Coefficient – Gini index measures the extent to which the distribution of income (or, in some cases, consumption expenditure) among individuals or households within an economy deviates from a perfectly equal distribution. A Lorenz curve plots the cumulative percentages of total income received against the cumulative number of recipients, starting with the poorest individual or household. The Gini index measures the area between the Lorenz curve and a hypothetical line of absolute equality, expressed as a percentage of the maximum area under the line. Thus a Gini index of 0 represents perfect equality, while an index of 100 implies perfect inequality.
Palma Index of income inequality – Palma index is defined as the ratio of the richest 10% of the population’s share of gross national income divided by the poorest 40%’s share.

Source: United Nations Children’s Fund, The State of the World’s Children 2024: The Future of Childhood in a Changing World – Statistical Compendium. UNICEF, Nov. 20, 2024.

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“Taking account of the social determinants of health, health in all policies has been emphasized by recommending health impact assessment (HIA), especially in connection with the Healthy City Project. Though not a legal requirement, an HIA of this type aims to encourage municipalities participating in the Healthy City Project to plan healthy public policies and projects and to assess their impact on health. HIAs have been conducted for several public policies, whether directly health-related or not. One example is the HIA of KTX, the high-speed railway system.

“Another type of HIA, which is carried out as a part of environmental impact assessment, is a legal requirement and has been in place since 2010. Among various determinants of health, this type of HIA focuses on physical environmental risk factors such as air pollution, water quality, noise and vibration which may be incurred by development projects like building an industrial complex or thermal power plant, for example. The HIA feeds the results back into the decision-making process.

“From a decade ago, rapid ageing coupled with low fertility was recognized as a potential threat, and it became a driving force of intersectoral collaboration. A committee to address low fertility and the ageing society was organized in September 2005. The committee, chaired by the President, commanded intersectoral collaboration with 12 ministries including the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Education, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The committee played the role of control tower to cope with socioeconomic problems incurred by low fertility and rapid ageing. After the Lee administration was inaugurated in 2008, the committee was adjusted, and would be chaired by the Minister of Health and Welfare. Though it was downgraded, the committee still commanded intersectoral collaboration with vice-ministers concerned to discuss policy goals and direction in a low-fertility, ageing society.

“Smoking is one of the major health risk factors. Among various strategies to lower the smoking rate, an increase in cigarette price is always on the policy menu and also needs intersectoral collaboration. The Government increased tobacco tax in 2005, and some of the tobacco tax was earmarked for a health promotion fund. This was possible because other ministries including the Ministry of Strategy and Finance (MOSF) recognized the importance of health promotion for the population. A further significant increase in the cigarette price through taxation was recently made.”

Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (‎2015)‎. Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

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“The National Health Plan 2020 (HP 2020) is the third national health promotion plan launched since the National Health Promotion Law was enacted in 1995. Considering the social determinants of health, HP 2020 set up targets in various areas to enhance the health of the population. In terms of intersectorality, the Ministry of Health and Welfare needs to collaborate with other ministries like the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Employment and Labor to improve the health of schoolchildren and industrial workers, respectively.

“Apart from enhancing population health, HP 2020 also aimed to reduce inequalities in health. Not only did it establish targets to reduce health inequalities in individual projects such as tobacco control, alcohol control and physical activity, it also aimed to enhance the health of vulnerable groups such as the disabled and ethnic minorities.”

Source: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific. (‎2015)‎. Republic of Korea health system review. Manila: WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific.

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World Health Systems Facts is a project of the Real Reporting Foundation. We provide reliable statistics and other data from authoritative sources regarding health systems and policies in the US and eighteen other nations.

Page last updated October 12, 2026 by Doug McVay, Editor.