Human development index (Our World) in South Korea
South Korea: Human development index (Our World) was 0.937 in 2023. ▲ Rising
Latest (2023)
0.937
Change on year
up 1.0%
World rank
20th
of 192 countries
All-time high
0.937
in 2023
All-time low
0.738
in 1990
Years of data
34
1990–2023
Human development index in South Korea, 1990–2023
Source: Our World in Data.
Analysis
In 2023, human development index in South Korea stood at 0.937. That is the highest value across all 34 years on record.
That represents a change of up 1.0% on the previous year and up 3.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, human development index in South Korea peaked at 0.937 in 2023 and was at its lowest, 0.738, in 1990.
South Korea ranks 20th of 192 countries on this measure, in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 34 years of available data.
Human development index (Our World) in South Korea, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 0.738 | — |
| 1991 | 0.749 | +1.5% |
| 1992 | 0.759 | +1.3% |
| 1993 | 0.77 | +1.4% |
| 1994 | 0.779 | +1.2% |
| 1995 | 0.789 | +1.3% |
| 1996 | 0.801 | +1.5% |
| 1997 | 0.812 | +1.4% |
| 1998 | 0.809 | -0.4% |
| 1999 | 0.821 | +1.5% |
| 2000 | 0.83 | +1.1% |
| 2001 | 0.838 | +1.0% |
| 2002 | 0.846 | +1.0% |
| 2003 | 0.852 | +0.7% |
| 2004 | 0.859 | +0.8% |
| 2005 | 0.866 | +0.8% |
| 2006 | 0.871 | +0.6% |
| 2007 | 0.876 | +0.6% |
| 2008 | 0.878 | +0.2% |
| 2009 | 0.881 | +0.3% |
| 2010 | 0.894 | +1.5% |
| 2011 | 0.899 | +0.6% |
| 2012 | 0.901 | +0.2% |
| 2013 | 0.905 | +0.4% |
| 2014 | 0.91 | +0.6% |
| 2015 | 0.914 | +0.4% |
| 2016 | 0.918 | +0.4% |
| 2017 | 0.922 | +0.4% |
| 2018 | 0.924 | +0.2% |
| 2019 | 0.927 | +0.3% |
| 2020 | 0.928 | +0.1% |
| 2021 | 0.933 | +0.5% |
| 2022 | 0.928 | -0.5% |
| 2023 | 0.937 | +1.0% |
South Korea compared with similar countries
- South Korea's 0.937 is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.913, 1.0× the median. (64 countries reporting)
- South Korea's 0.937 is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 0.732, 1.3× the median. (30 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 0.7827 | 0.738 | 0.821 | 10 |
| 2000s | 0.8597 | 0.83 | 0.881 | 10 |
| 2010s | 0.9114 | 0.894 | 0.927 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.9315 | 0.928 | 0.937 | 4 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
- 17 Liechtenstein 0.938 compare
- 17 New Zealand 0.938 compare
- 17 United States 0.938 compare
- 21 Slovenia 0.931 compare
- 22 Austria 0.93 compare
- 23 Japan 0.925 compare
More reference data data for South Korea
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Burning - Crop 31.73 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Manure Management 880.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - IPCC Agriculture 12,007 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 1.13 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 4.37 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 5.17 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 19.85 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) from CH4 (AR5) - Enteric 6,875 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.9638 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (CO2eq) (AR5) - Manure Management 2,038 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is human development index in South Korea?
- Human development index in South Korea was 0.937 in 2023, according to Our World in Data.
- What is the highest human development index recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 0.937 in 2023.
- What is the lowest human development index recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.738 in 1990.
- How does South Korea rank for human development index?
- South Korea ranks 20th out of 192 countries with data for 2023.
- Is human development index rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from Our World in Data, published as part of Human development index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).