International rankings of South Korea

The following are international rankings of South Korea.

Outline

Name	Classification		Reference
FTSE	Developed market	Y	[1]
	Emerging market
	Frontier market

Name	Classification		Reference
S&P	Developed market	Y	[2]
	Emerging market
	Frontier market

Name	Classification		Reference
IMF	Advanced economy	Y	[3]
	Emerging and Developing Economies

Name	Classification		Reference
DAC	Member	Y	[4]
	Non-member

Name	Classification		Reference
Paris Club	Member	Y	[5]
	Non-member

Name	Classification		Reference
World Bank	High income	Y	[6]
	Middle income
	Low income

Economy

See also: Economy of South Korea

Seoul ranks fifth in global city GDP and second in Asian city GDP.

Economic Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
OECD – Net take-home pay, single with no child	2013	&3	&34	[7]
OECD – Net take-home pay, married with 2 children	2013	&8	&34	[8]
ILO – Average monthly earnings	2009	&10	&72	[9] Archived 2018-09-09 at the Wayback Machine
Gallup – Median household income	2013	&8	&131	[10]
Gallup – Median per-capita income	2013	&15	&131	[11]
World Bank – Ease of Doing Business Index	2016	&4	&183	[12]
The World Factbook – Exports	2014	&5	194	[13]
The World Factbook – Imports	2014	&7	194	[14]
IMF – GDP (Nominal)	2016	&11	179	[15]
IMF – GDP (PPP)	2016	&13	180	[16]
IMF – GDP per capita (Nominal)	2014	&29	180	[17]
IMF – GDP per capita (PPP)	2014	&30	181	[18]
IMF – Foreign exchange reserves	2015	&6	&98	[19]
World Economic Forum – Financial Development Index	2012	&15	62	[20]
World Economic Forum – Global Competitiveness Report	2019	&13	141	[21]
World Economic Forum – Global Enabling Trade Report	2014	&30	138	[22]
IMD – World Competitiveness Yearbook	2015	&25	60	[23]
Wall Street Journal / The Heritage Foundation – Index of Economic Freedom	2023	&14	&184	[24]
OECD – Job security	2012	&4	34	[25]
MIT – Economic Complexity Index	2012	&5	&124	[26]
Connectivity Scorecard	2012	&18	&52	[27]
World Bank – Logistics Performance Index	2023	&17	&139	[28]
World Bank – Paying Taxes	2014	&25	&189	[29]
Grant Thornton – Global Dynamism Index	2013	&14	&60	[30]
FedEx Opportunity Index – Business Rank	2008	&2	&109	[31]
Milken Institute – Capital Access Index	2009	&12	&122	[32]
DHL – Global Connectedness Index	2014	&13	&140	[33]
McKinsey – Connectedness Index	2012	&20	&131	[34] Archived 2016-01-23 at the Wayback Machine

Education

See also: Education in South Korea

Education Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
OECD – Attained a tertiary education degree, 25- to 34-year-olds %	2011	&4	35	[35]
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment – Maths	2012	&8	34	[36]
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment – Reading	2012	&2	34	[37]
OECD Programme for International Student Assessment – Science	2012	&4	34	[38]
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – 4th Grade Math	2011	&2	52	[39]
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – 8th Grade Math	2011	&9	52	[40]
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – 4th Grade Science	2011	&23	52	[41]
Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study – 8th Grade Science	2011	&3	52	[42]
Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation – Women's average years in school	2010	&3	206	[43]

Environment

See also: Environment of South Korea

Environmental Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
Yale University / Columbia University – Environmental Performance Index	2014	&43	178	[44]
United Nations University for Environment and Human Security – World Risk Index	2013	&62	172	[45]

Health & Safety

See also: Healthcare in South Korea and Housing in South Korea

Comparison of healthcare spending and life expectancy for some countries in 2007

Note: In the case of statistics with potentially conflicting meanings, the rankings have been converted to reflect the same direction – Positive statistics rank higher, while negative statistics rank lower.

Health Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
WHO – Risk of death from non-communicable disease	2008	&9	194	[46]
OECD – Life expectancy	2013	&11	34	[47]
WHO – Infant mortality	2005–2010	&19	193	[48]
WHO – Health expenditure covered by government	2012	&31	34	[49]
OECD – Obesity rate	2009	&5	34	[50]
OECD – Hospital beds	2011	&2	34	[51]
OECD – Alcohol consumption	2011	&13	34	[52]
OECD – Smoking rate	2010	&26	41	[53]
OECD – Cancer rate	2012	&27	34	[54]
OECD – Colorectal cancer 5-year survival rate	2006–2011	&9	23	[55]
OECD – Hemorrhagic stroke 30 day in-hospital mortality	2011	&3	32	[56]
OECD – Ischemic stroke 30 day in-hospital mortality	2011	&2	33	[57]
Intentional homicide rate	2011	&6	192	[58]

Industry

See also: Manufacturing in South Korea and Energy in South Korea

KSLV-II Nuri launching from the Launch Pad 2 at Naro Space Center, 21 October 2021.

The launch of KARI KSR-1

Industrial Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
OICA – Automobile production	2023	5	49	[59]
IAEA – Nuclear energy production	2012	&5		[60]
World Steel Association – Steel production	2017	&6	40	[61]
The World Factbook – Electricity production	2017	&9	211	[62]
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – Arms exports	2013	&13	154	[63]

Innovation

See also: List of Korean inventions and discoveries

Innovation Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
World Intellectual Property Indicators – Patent applications per GDP	2012	&8	206	[64]
World Intellectual Property Indicators – Patent applications per million population	2012	&6	206	[65]
World Intellectual Property Indicators – Application design counts per million population	2012	&8	206	[66]
World Intellectual Property Indicators – Patent grants	2012	&4	206	[67]
World Intellectual Property Indicators – Industrial design registrations in force	2012	&3	206	[68]
Bloomberg Innovation Index	2016	&7	50	Bloomberg Innovation Index
The Boston Consulting Group – International Innovation Index	2009	&2	110	[69]
Cornell University, INSEAD and WIPO – Global Innovation Index	2015	6	180	[70]
Research and development spending - % of GDP	2012	&9	72	[71]
Research and development spending – Total	2011	&5	72	[72]

Politics, Law and Military

See also: Government of South Korea, Politics of South Korea, and Law of South Korea

The National Assembly building

The main chamber of the National Assembly

Political, Law and Military Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
Transparency International – Global Corruption Barometer	2013	&6	95	[73]
OECD – Government transparency	2008	&6	34	[74]
Composite Index of National Capability	2007	&8	193	[75]
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute – Defense budget	2013	&&10	154	[76]
World Justice Project – Rule of Law Index	2015	&11	102	[77]
Nation brand power	2013	&12	40	[78]
Transparency International – Bribe Payers Index	2013	&13	28	[79]
The Economist Intelligence Unit – Democracy Index	2012	&20	167	[80]
Fund for Peace – Fragile State Index	2013	&&23	178	[81]
Nation Brand Index	2023	&&24	49	[82]
Property Rights Alliance – International Property Rights Index	2013	&&37	130	[83]
Transparency International – Corruption Perception Index	2015	&&37	177	[84]
Institute for Economics and Peace – Global Peace Index	2015	&&42	162	[85]
Reporters Without Borders – Press Freedom Index	2023	47	180	[86]

Science & Technology

See also: Science and technology in South Korea

Hyundai Motor Group, one of the top three car brands in the world

LG Electronics, the No. 1 TV market player in the world

Samsung Electronics, the world's No. 1 smartphone market share as of 2022

SK Hynix, the world's fourth-largest chipmaker in sales as of 2023

Science & Technology Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
Google – Smartphone penetration	2018	&4	48	[87] Archived 2018-12-26 at the Wayback Machine
ClinicalTrials.gov – Stem cell research trials	2014	&3	11	[88]
Space Competitiveness Index	2024	&7	15	[89]
World Wide Web Foundation – Web index	2014	&8	81	[90]
World Economic Forum – Networked Readiness Index	2014	&10	145	[91]
United Nations – E-Government Development Index	2022	3	193	[92]
United Nations – E-Participation Index	2022	9	193	[93]
United Nations – Online Service Index	2022	3	193	[94]

Society & Quality of Life

See also: Demographics of South Korea and Koreans

Social and Quality of Life Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
Screen Digest – Average number of movies watched	2013	&1		[95]
Fragile States Index	2013	&18	178	[96]
United Nations – Human Development Index	2012	&12	187	[97]
Newsweek – "World's best countries"	2010	&15	100	[98]
Official Development Assistance aid sent to developing countries	2012	&16	23	[99]
The Economist – Where-to-be-born Index	2013	&19	80	[100]
Walk Free Foundation – Global Slavery Index	2013	&23	&160	[101]
World Economic Forum – Human Capital Report	2013	&23	&122	[102]
OECD – Time devoted to leisure and personal care	2009	&25	&34	[103]
Legatum Prosperity Index	2014	&25	&104	[104]
Center for Global Development – Commitment to Development Index	2013	&26	&166	[105]
Social Progress Index	2014	&28	&132	[106]
Save the Children State of the World's Mothers report	2014	&30	&178	[107]
Average annual hours worked per worker	2012–2013	&32	&35	[108]
OECD – Social expenditure as % of GDP	2014	&32	&34	[109]
United Nations – World Happiness Report	2013	&41	&166	[110]
Charities Aid Foundation – World Giving Index	2012	&45	&145	[111]

Tourism

See also: Tourism in South Korea and South Korean culture

The Deoksugung palace in Seoul, a popular visitor attraction

Tourism Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
World Tourism Organization – World Tourism rankings	2013	&23	193	[112]
World Economic Forum – Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report	2013	15	140	[113]
UNESCO – World Heritage Site	2023	22	34	[114]

Transportation

See also: Transport in South Korea

KTX train

Transportation Rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
The World Factbook – Number of Heliports	2013	&2	192	[115]
The World Factbook – Expressway density	2009	&8	192	[116]

Culture

See also: Hallyu, K-pop, and Soft power

K-pop fans outside the Korean Cultural Center in Warsaw, Poland, in 2011

Culture rankings

Name	Year	Place	Out of #	Reference
Brand Finance – Global Soft Power Index	2023	15	-	[117]

See also

• International rankings of North Korea
• International rankings of China
• International rankings of Japan