South Korea, year by year

Every index this site holds for South Korea, in time order: 12 series across 1990–2025, each value as its source published it. The profile shows the latest snapshot; this is the record behind it.

HDI since 1990

Human development rose from 0.738 in 1990 to 0.937 in 2023.

UNDP Human Development Report, 2025 edition. 34 annual values, none interpolated.

Twenty years here

The world report

Life expectancy at birth: 83.6 years2024at birthUp 5.5 years from 78.2 years in 2005
Internet users: 98%2024of people onlineUp 20 points from 78% in 2006
Urban population: 81%2025of people in towns and citiesLevel with 2006
Births per woman: 0.752024births per womanDown 0.34 from 1.09 in 2005
Renewable share of energy: 4%2021of energy usedUp 3 points from 1% in 2004
Access to electricity: 100%2024of people with electricityLevel with 2005
Infant mortality: 22024deaths before age one, per 1,000 birthsDown 2 from 4 in 2005
CO2 emissions per person: 11.4 t2024of CO2 per person a yearUp 0.6 t from 10.7 t in 2005
Forest area: 64%2023of land under forestDown 2 points from 67% in 2004

World Bank, from the first to the last observed year of each indicator; each has its own window.

All indexes, 1990–2025

36 years · 12 series · 1 value marked for checking

Year	HDI0–1	Life expectancy at birthyears	Internet users% of people	Urban population% of people	Births per womanbirths	Renewable share of energy% of energy	Access to electricity% of people	Infant mortalityper 1,000 births	CO2 emissions per persont/year	Forest area% of land	GDP per capitaUS$	GDP per capita, PPPintl $
1990	0.738	71.6	—	—	1.57	1.6	100	12	6.1	67.9	—	—
1991	0.749	72.0	0.1	75.2	1.71	1.0	100	11	6.8	67.8	—	—
1992	0.759	72.5	0.1	76.2	1.76	0.8	100	10	7.3	67.8	—	—
1993	0.770	73.0	0.3	77.1	1.65	0.7	100	9	7.9	67.7	—	—
1994	0.779	73.4	0.3	77.9	1.66	0.4	100	9	8.5	67.6	—	—
1995	0.789	73.7	0.8	78.4	1.63	0.4	100	8	9.0	67.5	—	—
1996	0.801	74.2	1.6	78.8	1.57	0.6	100	8	9.6	67.5	—	—
1997	0.812	74.6	3.6	79.0	1.54	0.7	100	7	10.0	67.4	—	—
1998	0.809	75.0	6.8	79.2	1.46	0.9	100	7	8.5	67.3	—	—
1999	0.821	75.4	23.6	79.4	1.43	0.8	100	6	9.2	67.2	—	—
2000	0.830	75.9	44.7	79.6	1.48	0.7	100	6	9.9	67.1	—	—
2001	0.838	76.4	56.6	79.9	1.31	0.7	100	6	10.1	66.8	—	—
2002	0.846	76.8	59.4	80.3	1.18	0.7	100	5	10.4	66.7	—	—
2003	0.852	77.2	65.5	80.7	1.19	0.8	100	5	10.5	66.6	—	—
2004	0.859	77.7	72.7	81.1	1.16	0.8	100	5	10.8	66.5	—	—
2005	0.866	78.2	73.5	81.4	1.09	0.9	100	4	10.7	66.4	—	—
2006	0.871	78.7	78.1	81.6	1.13	0.9	100	4	10.8	66.3	22610	27972
2007	0.876	79.1	78.8	81.7	1.26	1.0	100	4	11.1	66.2	25078	30255
2008	0.878	79.5	81.0	81.8	1.19	1.1	100	4	11.3	66.0	22252	31211
2009	0.881	80.0	81.6	81.9	1.15	1.2	100	3	11.3	65.9	19937	30740
2010	0.894	80.1	83.7	82.0	1.23	1.3	100	3	12.4	65.7	24071	33120
2011	0.899	80.6	83.8	82.0	1.24	1.4	100	3	13.0	65.6	26175	33944
2012	0.901	80.8	84.1	81.9	1.30	1.6	100	3	12.8	65.4	26601	35062
2013	0.905	81.3	84.8	81.8	1.19	1.9	100	3	12.7	65.3	28449	35844
2014	0.910	81.7	87.6	81.7	1.21	2.9	100	3	12.4	65.1	30667	37032
2015	0.914	82.0	89.9	81.6	1.24	2.7	100	3	12.6	65.0	30172	39794
2016	0.918	82.3	92.8	81.6	1.17	2.6	100	3	12.7	64.9	30832	41673
2017	0.922	82.6	95.1	81.5	1.05	2.8	100	3	12.9	64.8	33297	43156
2018	0.924	82.6	96.0	81.4	0.98	3.2	100	3	13.2	64.7	35364	45511
2019	0.927	83.2	96.2	81.3	0.92	3.2	100	3	12.7	64.5	33827	46511
2020	0.928	83.4	96.5	81.2	0.84	3.6	100	3	11.9	64.4	33646	47881
2021	0.933	83.5	97.6	81.2	0.81	3.6	100	3	12.3	64.3	37518	51718
2022	0.928	82.7	97.2	81.2	0.78	—	100	2	11.9	64.2	34822	55509
2023	0.937	83.4	97.4	81.2	0.72	—	100	2	11.4	64.1	35674	57430
2024	—	83.6	97.9	81.2	0.75	—	100	2	11.4	—	36239	61051
2025	—	—	—	81.2	—	—	—	—	—	—	36227	63125
On the profile	0.937	83.6	97.9	81.2	0.75	3.6	—	—	11.4	64.1	36227	63125

Sources: HDI: UNDP HDR 2025; Life expectancy at birth: World Bank SP.DYN.LE00.IN; Internet users: World Bank IT.NET.USER.ZS; Urban population: World Bank SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS; Births per woman: World Bank SP.DYN.TFRT.IN; Renewable share of energy: World Bank EG.FEC.RNEW.ZS; Access to electricity: World Bank EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS; Infant mortality: World Bank SP.DYN.IMRT.IN; CO2 emissions per person: World Bank EN.GHG.CO2.PC.CE.AR5; Forest area: World Bank AG.LND.FRST.ZS; GDP per capita: World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.CD; GDP per capita, PPP: World Bank NY.GDP.PCAP.PP.CD. Profile snapshot from the site dataset regenerated 2026-10-04. Observed years only.

A dotted value moved sharply against the previous observed value in its series, which is the usual signature of a series break or a source revision; it is a prompt to check, not a judgement. The last row, On the profile, is the figure the country profile shows today, set under its series so the two can be checked against each other. ≠ marks a difference of more than 2%: none on this page.

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