S. Korean life expectancy ranks 20th among OECD members

SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- The average life expectancy of a South Korean stands
at 79.4 years and ranks 20th among the members of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD), a report said Thursday.
According to the 2009 OECD health report released by the finance ministry, the
average life expectancy of people living in the 30-member organization stood at
79.1 years as of 2007, with South Korea drawing with Luxembourg.
It said Japan ranked first with its citizens expected to live 82.6 years,
followed by Switzerland at 81.9 years.
Australia and Italy tied at third place with 81.4 years, while Iceland came next
with its people living an average of 81.2 years.
Finland, Britain, Greece reported life expectancies of 79.5 years just above
South Korea, while Denmark, Portugal, the United States, Mexico and Turkey had
lower numbers.
By gender, the average Korean man's life expectancy reached 76.1 years or tied at
21st place along with Denmark, with the Swiss men expected to live the longest at
79.5 years.
Japanese women could expect to live longest at 86.0 years, with figures for South
Korean women reaching 82.7 years at 13th place.
The OECD report, meanwhile, said the average life expectancy in South Korea and
Turkey grew the fastest among its members from 1960 to 2007.
It said life expectancy of the two countries shot up 25 years in the cited period.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
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