Korea vs United States: Potential years of life lost

Korea
3,128 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2023
United States
6,994 Years per 100 000 persons
in 2023
Korea rank
9th
United States rank
7th

Potential years of life lost over time

  • Korea
  • United States
2.5k5.0k7.5k10.0k12.5k196019912023

How they compare

United States currently reports 6,994 Years per 100 000 persons against 3,128 Years per 100 000 persons in Korea, a difference of 3,866 Years per 100 000 persons.

That makes United States's figure about 2.2 times Korea's.

The two have swapped places 1 time across 39 shared years of data; in 1985 it was Korea ahead.

Korea ranks 9th and United States ranks 7th of 9 groups.

Across the 5 decades both report, Korea averaged higher in 2 and United States in 3.

Head to head by decade

Decade Korea United States Difference Ahead
1980s 10,323 Years per 100 000 persons 8,872 Years per 100 000 persons 1,452 Years per 100 000 persons Korea
1990s 8,504 Years per 100 000 persons 8,113 Years per 100 000 persons 390.47 Years per 100 000 persons Korea
2000s 5,649 Years per 100 000 persons 6,934 Years per 100 000 persons 1,284 Years per 100 000 persons United States
2010s 3,768 Years per 100 000 persons 6,325 Years per 100 000 persons 2,558 Years per 100 000 persons United States
2020s 3,166 Years per 100 000 persons 7,520 Years per 100 000 persons 4,354 Years per 100 000 persons United States

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher potential years of life lost, Korea or United States?
United States, at 6,994 Years per 100 000 persons against 3,128 Years per 100 000 persons in Korea as of 2023.
What is the difference in potential years of life lost between Korea and United States?
3,866 Years per 100 000 persons, with United States ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Korea and United States?
39 years are reported by both, from 1985 to 2023.
How do Korea and United States rank globally for potential years of life lost?
Korea ranks 9th and United States ranks 7th of 9 groups.
Where does this data come from?
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as Potential years of life lost. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

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Korea vs United States: Potential years of life lost. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 20 August 2026, from https://reference.statizoid.com/compare/potential-years-of-life-lost/korea/united-states/

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About this data

Indicator
Potential years of life lost
Unit
Years per 100 000 persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
46 places, 2,490 data points, 1960–2024
Last refreshed

Potential Years of Life Lost (PYLL) is a summary measure of premature mortality which provides an explicit way of weighting deaths occurring at younger ages, which are, a priori, preventable. The calculation of PYLL involves summing up deaths occurring at each age and multiplying this with the number of remaining years to live up to a selected age limit. The limit of 75 years has been chosen for the calculations in OECD Health Statistics. The selected ICD categories presented in the OECD Health Statistics database are detailed in an Excel file available for download, with codes according to the Tenth revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) along with codes from other ICD revisions used in the WHO Mortality Database. Please refer to the Sources and Methods for detailed country-specific information.