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South Korea · data for latest available · data as of 26 October 2026 · printed 27 Oct 2026
NationsTree / Countries / South Korea
2025
Flag of South Korea

South Korea

East Asia & Pacific Capital Seoul High income Nation age 2,082 years (since 57 BC) i KOR · KR
NationsTree Index 2025 i84.51st of 196 Tree height 2025 i40 msee ranking Military strength i94percentile
Population i51.7 m29th of 217 Area i100,460 km²109th of 216 GDP i$1.87 trn13th of 210 GDP (PPP) i$3.26 trn intl.14th of 199 GDP per person (PPP) i$63,125 intl.35th of 199 Life expectancy i83.6 years14th of 217
Index pillars
Foundations · roots i79
Strength · trunk i95
Quality of life · crown i90
Problems (higher = fewer) · dry branches i80
Direction (5-year change) · new shoots i75
CSV

In short

South Korea is 1st of 196 countries in the NationsTree Index, with a score of 84.5 out of 100; its tree is 40 m tall.

It has 51.7 million people and an economy of $3.26 trn at purchasing power parity, 14th of 199 in the world.

Its strongest positions: Hospital beds (1st of 145), Access to electricity (1st of 215) and R&D spending (3rd of 110).

Its weakest positions: CO₂ emissions per person (187th of 203), GDP growth (174th of 210) and Renewable energy (171st of 212).

Over five years it climbed from 3rd to 1st in the index.

All data

Data as of 26 October 2026

Latest available value for each indicator, with its year. World rank is among countries with recent data (last 5 years of the series).

Land & people

57
Surface area ikm² 100,460 109th/216
Land area ikm² 97,600 106th/216
Population ipeople 51.7 m 29th/217
Population growth i% -0.13% 182nd/217
Population density ipeople/km² 530.2 23rd/216
Urban population i% 81.2% 54th/217
Population aged 0–14 i% 10.2% 217th/217
Population aged 65+ i% 20.3% 36th/217

Economy

72
GDP iUSD $1.87 trn 13th/210
GDP (PPP) iintl. USD $3.26 trn 14th/199
Real GDP (PPP, constant 2021 prices) iintl. USD 2021 $2.88 trn 14th/199
GDP per person iUSD $36,227 47th/210
GDP per person (PPP) iintl. USD $63,125 35th/199
GNI per person (Atlas) iUSD $37,880 36th/201
GDP growth i% 1.0% 174th/210
Inflation i% 2.1% 62nd/180
Unemployment i% 2.7% 29th/187
Central government debt i% of GDP 47.8% 21st/55
General government gross debt i% of GDP 52.4% 91st/189
Government budget balance i% of GDP -2.3% 86th/192

Main industries

62
Agriculture, forestry, fishing i% of GDP 1.5% 160th/197
Industry incl. construction i% of GDP 34.3% 36th/200
Manufacturing i% of GDP 27.4% 7th/192
Services i% of GDP 57.2% 104th/200

Trade

64
Exports of goods & services iUSD $856.86 bn 11th/182
Imports of goods & services iUSD $760.16 bn 12th/182
Exports i% of GDP 45.8% 62nd/183
Imports i% of GDP 40.6% 101st/183
Trade openness i% of GDP 86.4% 85th/183
Fuel exports i% of merchandise exports 6.7% 64th/170
Manufactures exports i% of merchandise exports 88.0% 8th/171
Food exports i% of merchandise exports 1.7% 157th/171
Ores & metals exports i% of merchandise exports 2.6% 94th/171
High-tech exports i% of manufactured exports 36.3% 13th/168
Current account balance i% of GDP 6.5% 29th/191
Foreign direct investment, inflows i% of GDP 0.8% 148th/196

Natural resources

48
Natural resource rents i% of GDP 0.0% 162nd/209
Oil rents i% of GDP 0.03% 93rd/197
Natural gas rents i% of GDP 0.01% 88th/197
Coal rents i% of GDP 0.00% 59th/195
Mineral rents i% of GDP 0.00% 89th/209
Forest rents i% of GDP 0.01% 146th/209
Arable land i% of land area 13.3% 79th/206
Renewable freshwater per person im³ 1,255 120th/183

Tourism

65
International tourist arrivals iarrivals 2.5 m 58th/194
Tourism receipts iUSD $11.78 bn 14th/175
Tourism receipts i% of exports 1.9% 129th/168
Outbound trips idepartures 4.3 m 30th/107

Society & health

81
Life expectancy iyears 83.6 14th/217
Under-5 mortality iper 1,000 births 2.8 17th/196
Physicians iper 1,000 people 2.61 70th/174
Hospital beds iper 1,000 people 12.8 1st/145
DPT immunization i% of children 12–23 months 97% 29th/193
Completed lower secondary, 25+ i% of adults 90.0% 49th/153
Secondary enrolment i% gross 96.3% 76th/173
Old-age dependency ratio i% of working-age population 29.3% 41st/217
Health spending i% of GDP 8.7% 50th/193
Adult literacy i% 98.0%2008
Tertiary enrolment i% gross 111.9% 5th/150
Human Development Index iindex 0–1 0.937 20th/193
Income inequality (Gini) iindex 32.9 40th/108
Extreme poverty i% of population 0.1% 10th/108

Infrastructure & digital

90
Access to electricity i% of population 100.0% 1st/215
Safely managed drinking water i% of population 99.3% 28th/150
Safely managed sanitation i% of population 99.3% 8th/144
Internet users i% of population 97.9% 13th/186
Mobile subscriptions iper 100 people 173 18th/210
Fixed broadband iper 100 people 47.8 8th/208
Trade & transport infrastructure quality (LPI) iscore 1–5 4.10 9th/164
Rail lines iroute-km 4,309 29th/82
Air passengers carried ipassengers 76.3 m 16th/161

Environment & energy

49
CO₂ emissions per person it CO₂e 11.36 187th/203
Renewable energy i% of final energy use 3.6% 171st/212
Air pollution (PM2.5) iµg/m³ 21.9 128th/200
Forest area i% of land area 64.4% 23rd/214
Energy use per person ikg oil eq. 5,564 13th/149

Institutions & safety

84
Government effectiveness iscore 0–100 83.1 19th/205
Control of corruption iscore 0–100 66.7 40th/207
Rule of law iscore 0–100 78.3 29th/207
Political stability iscore 0–100 81.7 49th/207
Regulatory quality iscore 0–100 72.8 32nd/205
Voice & accountability iscore 0–100 73.8 49th/205
Homicide rate iper 100,000 0.5 10th/145

Military

86
Military expenditure iUSD $47.77 bn 13th/156
Military expenditure i% of GDP 2.6% 38th/156
Military expenditure i% of government spending 10.8% 26th/154
Armed forces personnel ipeople 569,000 11th/170
Armed forces personnel i% of labour force 2.01% 26th/168
Arms imports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 222.0 m 36th/163
Arms exports (SIPRI TIV) iTIV 2.0 bn 4th/65

Science & innovation

97
R&D spending i% of GDP 4.94% 3rd/110
Patent applications by residents iapplications 195,786 4th/137
Scientific articles iarticles 71,724 9th/197

Compare South Korea with

ArgentinaAustraliaBrazilCanadaChinaFranceGermanyIndiaIndonesiaItalyJapanMexicoRussiaSaudi ArabiaSouth AfricaThailandTürkiyeUnited KingdomUnited StatesVietnam

Sources

Figures on this page come from: World Bank — World Development Indicators, International Monetary Fund — World Economic Outlook (DataMapper), Global Change Data Lab (Our World in Data) — Our World in Data, World Bank — Worldwide Governance Indicators . Nation age: Three Kingdoms of Korea (Silla, traditional founding date of the earliest kingdom) (source). Every value is stored with its year and source series; see Sources & licences and Methodology.

Cite as: NationsTree (2026). South Korea — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/south-korea. Data as of 26 October 2026.

All figures come from official statistics published by public institutions (World Bank WDI and WGI, compiling UN agencies, IMF, WHO and national statistical offices). Each value carries its year; ranks are positions among countries with data.
Cite as: NationsTree (2026). South Korea — country profile. https://nationstree.org/countries/south-korea. Data as of 26 October 2026.
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