Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Japan instead of South Korea, you would:
Health
live 1.9 years longer
In South Korea, the average life expectancy is 83 years (80 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022. In Japan, that number is 85 years (82 years for men, 88 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
be 37.2% less likely to be unemployed
In South Korea, 3.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In Japan, that number is 2.4% as of 2019.
be 11.8% more likely to live below the poverty line
In South Korea, 14.4% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Japan, however, that number is 16.1% as of 2013.
pay a 47.2% higher top tax rate
South Korea has a top tax rate of 38.0% as of 2016. In Japan, the top tax rate is 56.0% as of 2016.
Life
be 54.5% less likely to die during childbirth
In South Korea, approximately 11.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Japan, 5.0 women do as of 2017.
be 33.8% less likely to die during infancy
In South Korea, approximately 2.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Japan, on the other hand, 1.9 children do as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 28.9% less on education
South Korea spends 4.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2018. Japan spends 3.2% of total GDP on education as of 2017.
spend 30.5% more on healthcare
South Korea spends 8.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Japan, that number is 10.7% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 12.3 times more coastline
South Korea has a total of 2,413 km of coastline. In Japan, that number is 29,751 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, National Tax Service, South Korea, National Tax Agency Japan.
Japan: At a glance
How big is Japan compared to South Korea? See an in-depth size comparison.