Quality of life comparison
If you lived in South Korea instead of Belgium, you would:
Health
live 1.1 years longer
In Belgium, the average life expectancy is 82 years (79 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022. In South Korea, that number is 83 years (80 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022.
be 78.7% less likely to be obese
In Belgium, 22.1% of adults are obese as of 2016. In South Korea, that number is 4.7% of people as of 2016.
Economy
be 29.9% less likely to be unemployed
In Belgium, 5.4% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In South Korea, that number is 3.8% as of 2019.
pay a 29.2% lower top tax rate
Belgium has a top tax rate of 53.7% as of 2016. In South Korea, the top tax rate is 38.0% as of 2016.
make 12.2% less money
Belgium has a GDP per capita of $48,200 as of 2020, while in South Korea, the GDP per capita is $42,300 as of 2020.
Life
be 10.0% less likely to die during infancy
In Belgium, approximately 3.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In South Korea, on the other hand, 2.9 children do as of 2022.
be 2.2 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Belgium, approximately 5.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In South Korea, 11.0 women do as of 2017.
have 36.8% fewer children
In Belgium, there are approximately 10.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In South Korea, there are 6.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 29.7% less on education
Belgium spends 6.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2018. South Korea spends 4.5% of total GDP on education as of 2018.
spend 23.4% less on healthcare
Belgium spends 10.7% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In South Korea, that number is 8.2% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 36.3 times more coastline
Belgium has a total of 66 km of coastline. In South Korea, that number is 2,413 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: Service Public Fédéral Finances, The World Factbook, National Tax Service, South Korea.
South Korea: At a glance
How big is South Korea compared to Belgium? See an in-depth size comparison.