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Korean women’s life expectancy is third longest in world

October 31, 2013

Korean women live on average to 85 years of age, according to UN Fund report

Korean women live an average of 7-years longer than Korean men. (Yonhap)

Korean women’s life expectancy is the third longest in the world, according to the “State of World Population 2013″ report released by the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) on Wednesday.

Korea’s birth rate and the percentage of people in age range of 10-19, however, were estimated to be among the lowest in the world, once again confirming Korea’s aging trend.

An average Korean woman is expected to live 85 years, which is the third longest in the world. Korean men didn’t fare as well, as their life expectancy is shorter at 78 years, which ranks 15th in the world.

Japanese women live the longest at 87 years, and for men – Japan, Hong Kong, and Sweden were the places to be.

The world’s birth rate for the years between 2010-2015 is estimated to be 2.5 per woman, almost doubling Korea’s 1.3, which is the third lowest in the world.

The world’s population is reported to be 7.162 billion, which is an increase of 110 million from last year. Among the 202 countries in the world, China’s population is still the largest at 1.356 billion, followed by India (1.2521 billion) and the United States (321 million).

South Korea ranked 26th with 49.3 million, and North Korea was 49th with 24.9 million. The combined population of the two countries would rank 19th in the world.

In the 10-19 age group, the North ranked 118th, with South Korea trailing far behind at 151st, the report showed.

The population fund said it based its report on data provided by various U.N. organizations, including the United Nations World Population Prospects.