| Population | 51,715,162 (July 2021 est.) |
| Nationality | noun: Korean(s) adjective: Korean |
| Ethnic groups | homogeneous |
| Languages | Korean, English (widely taught in elementary, junior high, and high school) major-language sample(s): ?? ???, ???? ?? ?? ??? (Korean) The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information. |
| Religions | Protestant 19.7%, Buddhist 15.5%, Catholic 7.9%, none 56.9% (2015 est.) note: many people also carry on at least some Confucian traditions and practices |
| Age structure | 0-14 years: 12.02% (male 3,191,584/female 3,025,029) 15-24 years: 10.75% (male 2,900,013/female 2,658,057) 25-54 years: 44.83% (male 12,106,860/female 11,077,642) 55-64 years: 15.66% (male 3,958,718/female 4,142,322) 65 years and over: 16.74% (male 3,766,138/female 4,888,799) (2021 est.) |
| Dependency ratios | total dependency ratio: 39.5 youth dependency ratio: 17.5 elderly dependency ratio: 22 potential support ratio: 4.5 (2020 est.) |
| Median age | total: 43.2 years male: 41.6 years female: 45 years (2020 est.) |
| Population growth rate | 0.26% (2021 est.) |
| Birth rate | 6.89 births/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Death rate | 6.96 deaths/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Net migration rate | 2.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2021 est.) |
| Population distribution | with approximately 70% of the country considered mountainous, the country's population is primarily concentrated in the lowland areas, where density is quite 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 |
| Urbanization | urban population: 81.4% of total population (2021) rate of urbanization: 0.31% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.) |
| Major cities - population | 9.968 million SEOUL (capital), 3.466 million Busan, 2.818 million Incheon, 2.191 million Daegu (Taegu), 1.569 million Daejon (Taejon), 1.524 million Gwangju (Kwangju) (2021) |
| Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female 0-14 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 15-24 years: 1.1 male(s)/female 25-54 years: 1.08 male(s)/female 55-64 years: 0.96 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.76 male(s)/female total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2020 est.) |
| Mother's mean age at first birth | 32.2 years (2019 est.) |
| Maternal mortality rate | 11 deaths/100,000 live births (2017 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate | total: 2.91 deaths/1,000 live births male: 3.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 2.68 deaths/1,000 live births (2021 est.) |
| Life expectancy at birth | total population: 82.78 years male: 79.66 years female: 86.06 years (2021 est.) |
| Total fertility rate | 1.09 children born/woman (2021 est.) |
| Contraceptive prevalence rate | 82.3% (2018) note: percent of women aged 20-49 |
| Drinking water source | improved: total: 100% of population unimproved: total: 0% of population (2017 est.) |
| Health expenditures | 7.6% (2018) |
| Physicians density | 2.36 physicians/1,000 population (2017) |
| Hospital bed density | 12.3 beds/1,000 population (2017) |
| Sanitation facility access | improved: total: 100% of population unimproved: total: 0% of population (2017 est.) |
| HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate | NA |
| HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | NA |
| HIV/AIDS - deaths | NA |
| Major infectious diseases | respiratory diseases: Covid-19 (see note) (2020) note: a novel coronavirus is causing an outbreak of respiratory illness (COVID-19) in South Korea; as of 19 July 2021, South Korea has reported a total of 180,481 cases of COVID-19 or 352.03 cumulative cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 population with 4.02 cumulative deaths per 100,000 population; as of 19 July 2021, 31.78% of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine |
| Obesity - adult prevalence rate | 4.7% (2016) |
| Children under the age of 5 years underweight | 0.7% (2010) |
| Education expenditures | 4.3% of GDP (2016) |
| Literacy | definition: age 15 and over can read and write (2019) total population: 98% (2019) male: 99.2% female: 96.6% |
| School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education) | total: 17 years male: 17 years female: 16 years (2018) |
Source: CIA World Factbook
This page was last updated on September 18, 2021
