South Koreans aged 60 can expect to live another 25.1 years on average, 3 years added from 10 years ago, government data showed Monday.

According to data by Statistics Korea, the life expectancy for a 60-year-old South Korean in 2017 averaged 25.1 years, 2.7 years longer than 10 years ago. Life expectancy refers to the average number of years a person of specific age may expect to live prior to death.

By gender, the life expectancy at 60 for Korean men averaged 22.8 years in 2017 and women 27.4 years, each 2.8 years and 2.7 years longer than a decade ago. The life expectancy in 2016 was 0.3 years and 0.2 years shorter, respectively.

The life expectancy in 2017 was longer than the previous year in all age groups except for those aged 90 and more. The life expectancy at 40, in particular, averaged 43.6 years, 3.2 years longer than 10 years ago.

Statistics Korea data also showed that the survival rate for women is higher than that of men in all age groups.

The rate for a baby born in 2017 to survive until they reach 40 was 98.1 percent for men and 98.8 percent for women while the likelihood of their 65th birthday was 87.7 percent for men and 94.9 percent for women. The probability for them to live until they are 80 was 59.6 percent for men and 79.6 percent for women with the figure for them to live until 100 reaching 1.1 percent for men and 3.7 percent for women.

In 1997, the life expectancy at 65 was 1.2 years shorter for Korean men and 0.9 years shorter for women as compared to the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation Development (OECD) countries. With life expectancy of older people growing recently, however, the situation has reversed.

In 2017, the life expectancy at 80 was 0.2 years shorter for men but 0.3 years longer for women as compared to the OECD average.

Data also showed that the life expectancy at birth average 82.7 years in 2017, three months longer than a year ago.

By Moon Jae-yong and Lee Eun-joo

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]