April 26, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Babies born in 2016 are expected to live more than 82 years in Korea, a government report showed on Dec. 5.

The life expectancy at birth averaged 82.4 years in 2016, slightly up from the previous year‘s 82.1 years, according to the report by Statistics Korea.

Babies were expected to live 79.3 years and 85.4 years, respectively, last year, with the male-female difference narrowing 0.1 year to 6.1 years.

The gender gap in life expectancy has been on a steady decline since 1985, when it peaked at 8.6 years.

The statistics report also showed that a 40-year-old man in 2016 will be alive for the next 40.4 years, while a 40-year-old woman could live till she is 86.4 years old. For those aged 60, men have 22.5 remaining years with numbers for women hitting 27.2 years.

A baby boy born last year has a 57.9 percent chance of reaching 80, while the chances of a baby girl becoming an octogenarian stood at 78.4 percent.

By Alex Lee and newswires (alexlee@heraldcorp.com)