(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Oct. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Only a third of South Koreans believe themselves to be healthy, despite the country’s average life expectancy being one of the longest among advanced countries, a report showed Sunday.
According to the report released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Health Insurance Service, based on the data compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), around 32.5 percent of South Koreans aged 15 and above claimed they were healthy in 2016.
The figure hovers far below the average of 67.5 percent posted by the member countries of the Paris-based organization.
Japan was also among the lowest, with its figure hitting 35.5 percent.
In contrast, New Zealand, Canada and the United States held comparable figures of 87.8 percent, 88.4 percent and 88 percent, respectively.
Despite South Koreans’ low confidence in their health, the country’s average life expectancy came to 82.4 years in 2016, hovering far above the member countries’ average of 80.8.
Japan had the longest life expectancy at 84.1, while Latvia held the lowest of 74.7 years.
Due to the weak confidence over health, South Koreans were also the most frequent visitors to hospitals.
The average South Korean visited hospitals 17 times in 2016, far outpacing the member countries’ average of 6.9 times.
(Yonhap)
