"No One to Rely on in Times of Trouble"... South Korea Ranks 19th in Quality of Life Among 38 OECD Countries

Analysis and Assessment by KIHASA

South Korea, Extreme Disparities Across Domains

The quality of life in South Korea ranked 19th among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

On the evening of the 12th, when a tropical night advisory was in effect throughout Seoul, tourists and residents visiting Cheonggyecheon in Seoul were cooling off from the heat. Photo by Yonhap News.

According to the latest issue of "Health and Welfare Issues and Focus" by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) released on August 10, Research Fellow Jeong Hae-sik from the Social Security Policy Research Department analyzed each country's quality of life based on the OECD's revamped Better Life Index (BLI) as of 2024, and reported that South Korea's overall BLI score stood at 5.99.

Norway ranked first in overall BLI with a score of 7.31, while Mexico ranked the lowest at 3.70. The report explained, "Norway, which topped the overall ranking, showed a well-balanced level of development across all areas."

South Korea ranked first in the housing domain and second in the knowledge and skills category. However, it came in 37th for social connections, indicating severe disparities across domains. In the sub-indicator for housing, the "proportion of household disposable income remaining after rent and maintenance expenditures" was the second highest at 84.83%.

Research Fellow Jeong explained, "An 84.83% figure means that if a household earns 1 million won per month, only about 150,000 won is spent on rent and maintenance. This is an average value nationwide, including Seoul," adding, "The repayment of housing loans is not included, and the gap across countries is not large."

Additionally, South Korea ranked second in the "knowledge and skills" category, with 15-year-old students' mathematical literacy (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment mathematics average: 527.3 points) placing the country second among OECD members. The "proportion of the population exposed to at least two weeks of extreme heat days per year" was 0%, which tied for first, and life expectancy at birth was 83.5 years, making it fifth.

In contrast, South Korea ranked second to last in the "social connections" domain. In particular, for the sub-indicator "social support," which refers to the presence of relatives or friends to rely on in times of trouble, Korea came in 38th.

South Korea also ranked low on indices that represent inequality and deprivation, which suggests that the degrees of disparity and deprivation among people are severe. Specifically, the income quintile ratio in Korea was 5.77, much higher than Slovakia, which had the lowest ratio at 3.46. Satisfaction with life also ranked low, with a score of 6.5, placing Korea at 36th.

Furthermore, for the "negative affect balance" index—a sub-indicator referring to the proportion of respondents who reported more negative emotions than positive ones the previous day—South Korea was ranked 29th at 14.85%, far behind Switzerland, which topped the list at 5.21%.

Research Fellow Jeong noted, "South Korea needs to work on improving vulnerable areas for a better life," and explained, "In terms of negative affect balance and lack of social support, rapid social changes and individuals' advancement failing to keep pace could be cited as causes."

He further suggested, "Along with efforts to establish new social norms that align with the changing reality, detailed policy implementation is also required."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.