Health care paradox: Korea achieves world-class longevity with fewest doctors among developed nations

Koreans are living longer, healthier lives than almost anywhere else in the industrialized world, even as the nation operates with one of the most severe shortages of practicing physicians among developed economies.

According to new data released Thursday by the Ministry of Health and Welfare based on the OECD Health Statistics 2026, life expectancy in Korea reached a record high of 83.7 years.

The figure places the nation comfortably above the OECD average of 81.2 years and just behind Switzerland, which leads the 38-member bloc at 84.2 years.

The statistics reveal a health care ecosystem defined by extraordinary access and world-class preventive care, alongside mounting structural strains.

Korea’s rate of avoidable mortality — deaths preventable through timely medical intervention or public health measures — stood at 139.0 per 100,000 people, far below the OECD benchmark of 208.8.

Yet this longevity is supported by a strikingly lean clinical workforce.

Korea recorded just 2.6 practicing physicians per 1,000 people (including practitioners of traditional Korean medicine), the seco ...