Life expectancy is the average years in which a person who is born is expected to survive in the future. In South Korea, life expectancy was 82.7 years in 2018. It was the fifth-highest among the OECD countries. The girls' life expectancy was 85.7 years which was the third-highest in the world. Life expectancy has been increasing since 1970. However, for the first time in 48 years, the life expectancy in 2018 was a standstill compared to 2017.

▲ The life expectancy in South Korea

There are reasons why the figure for life expectancy is increasing. First, it is influenced by medical benefits. Also, the development of medical knowledge and the increase in the number of doctors influence life expectancy. As more and more people can treat their diseases, the causes of death are decreasing. Also, many people today are concerned about their health, so they try to eat a healthy diet, to stay healthy.

▲ There is a life expectancy gap between boys and girls.

One interesting thing is that in a country, every class of people has a different life expectancy. Boys and girls who were born in 2018 are expected to live life until 79.7 years to 85.7 years. The gap between them in 6.0 years. In addition, the expectation of healthy life among boys and girls is 64.0 years to 64.9 years. That means that the girls' health period is longer than the boys'. Furthermore, the life expectancy of a person is also influenced by income. According to a survey, the gap between the highest and the lowest is 7.6 years, and the gap is still increasing. People in South Korea say that health inequality is becoming serious, so the government should strengthen the medical insurance.

Lastly, the most common reason for death among babies who were born in 2018 is cancer. The next common causes are heart diseases and pneumonia. The most notable thing is pneumonia, which was increased rapidly compared to 1997. In 1997, the rate of death because of the pneumonia was 1.4 percent, but in 2018, it was increased to 10.0 percent. The percent of people who died because of pneumonia increased by about 7.1 times.

▲ Live longer and have a healthy life

To stay healthy, there are three things that you have to do. You should eat healthy food, do some workouts and try to prevent Alzheimer's diseases. Living longer and having a healthy life are the best gifts to a person.

December 20, 2019

by Eugene Jang