Japan vs South Korea: Probability that a man will outlive a woman
Japan
33.6%
in 2023
South Korea
33.5%
in 2023
Japan rank
218th
South Korea rank
219th
Probability that a man will outlive a woman over time
- Japan
- South Korea
How they compare
Japan currently reports 33.6% against 33.5% in South Korea, a difference of 0.1%.
The two have swapped places 10 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Japan ahead.
Japan ranks 218th and South Korea ranks 219th of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Japan averaged higher in 7 and South Korea in 1.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Japan | South Korea | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 42.4% | 40.8% | 1.6% | Japan |
| 1960s | 39.2% | 39.8% | 0.6% | South Korea |
| 1970s | 38.2% | 34.6% | 3.6% | Japan |
| 1980s | 36.7% | 31.9% | 4.8% | Japan |
| 1990s | 34.6% | 32.2% | 2.4% | Japan |
| 2000s | 33.1% | 32.9% | 0.3% | Japan |
| 2010s | 33.4% | 32.8% | 0.6% | Japan |
| 2020s | 33.6% | 32.8% | 0.8% | Japan |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher probability that a man will outlive a woman, Japan or South Korea?
- Japan, at 33.6% against 33.5% in South Korea as of 2023.
- What is the difference in probability that a man will outlive a woman between Japan and South Korea?
- 0.1%, with Japan ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Japan and South Korea?
- 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
- How do Japan and South Korea rank globally for probability that a man will outlive a woman?
- Japan ranks 218th and South Korea ranks 219th of 236 countries.
- Where does this data come from?
- Human Mortality Database (2025); UN, World Population Prospects (2024); Bergeron-Boucher et al. (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as Probability that a man will outlive a woman. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.
Individual pages
About this data
Probability that a male will live longer than a female if both are randomly selected from the population at birth.