(image: Korea Bizwire)
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans rank first among major economies in terms of visits made to hospitals in 2016, government data showed Thursday.
According to the data by the National Health Insurance Service, South Koreans visited the doctor’s office an average of 17 times in 2016, much higher than the average of 6.9 times by citizens of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member countries.
Japan came in second with 12.8 visits, with Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany rounding out the top five, with at least 10 annual visits to hospitals and clinics.
The latest findings also showed that South Koreans were admitted to hospitals the second most in 2016.
On average, a South Korean staying in a hospital ward was there for 18.1 days, which is fewer than the 28.5 days for neighboring Japan, but much longer than the average 8.1 days for other member states of the Paris-based organization.
(Yonhap)
