South Koreans' healthy life expectancy has dropped below 70 years for the first time in nine years, while the gap between rich and poor has widened to 8.4 years.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Health Promotion Institute, analysis of national health insurance data shows healthy life expectancy fell from 70.93 years in 2020 to 69.89 years in 2022, marking two consecutive years of decline.
The 2022 figure falls nearly three years short of the government's target of 73.3 years set in the National Health Promotion Plan. This marks the first time healthy life expectancy has dropped below 70 since 2013, when it stood at 69.69 years.
Healthy life expectancy measures the number of years a person lives in good physical and mental health, calculated by subtracting years spent ill from total life expectancy.
By gender, men's healthy life expectancy in 2022 was 67.94 years, shorter than women's 71.69 years. Wealthier individuals showed longer healthy life spans. Those in the top 20% income bracket had a healthy life expectancy of 72.7 years, while the bottom 20% recorded just 64.3 years—a gap of 8.4 years.
This disparity grew from 6.7 years in 2012 to 8.4 years in 2020. It narrowed slightly to 8.2 years in 2021 before returning to previous levels.
The government has set extending healthy life expectancy and improving health equity as the overarching goals of its 6th National Health Promotion Plan (2026-2030). The plan will comprise seven divisions and 31 priority tasks, adding one division and three priority tasks to address policy changes and emerging health risks.
The Ministry stated, "With a vision of a society where everyone enjoys lifelong health, we will pursue both universal health improvement and greater health equity."