Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Australia instead of South Korea, you would:

Health

be 6.2 times more likely to be obese

In South Korea, 4.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Australia, that number is 29.0% of people as of 2016.

Economy

make 17.6% more money

South Korea has a GDP per capita of $50,600 as of 2023, while in Australia, the GDP per capita is $59,500 as of 2023.

be 39.0% more likely to be unemployed

In South Korea, 2.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Australia, that number is 3.7% as of 2023.

pay a 18.4% higher top tax rate

South Korea has a top tax rate of 38.0% as of 2016. In Australia, the top tax rate is 45.0% as of 2016.

Life

be 62.5% less likely to die during childbirth

In South Korea, approximately 8.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Australia, 3.0 women do as of 2020.

have 76.3% more children

In South Korea, there are approximately 6.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Australia, there are 12.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 29.8% more on education

South Korea spends 4.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2019. Australia spends 6.1% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 27.4% more on healthcare

South Korea spends 8.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Australia, that number is 10.7% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 10.7 times more coastline

South Korea has a total of 2,413 km of coastline. In Australia, that number is 25,760 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Australian Taxation Office, National Tax Service, South Korea.

Australia: At a glance

Australia is a sovereign country in Australia-Oceania, with a total land area of approximately 7,682,300 sq km. Prehistoric settlers arrived on the continent from Southeast Asia at least 40,000 years before the first Europeans began exploration in the 17th century. No formal territorial claims were made until 1770, when Capt. James COOK took possession of the east coast in the name of Great Britain (all of Australia was claimed as British territory in 1829 with the creation of the colony of Western Australia). Six colonies were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries; they federated and became the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901. The new country took advantage of its natural resources to rapidly develop agricultural and manufacturing industries and to make a major contribution to the Allied effort in World Wars I and II. In recent decades, Australia has become an internationally competitive, advanced market economy due in large part to economic reforms adopted in the 1980s and its location in one of the fastest growing regions of the world economy. Long-term concerns include aging of the population, pressure on infrastructure, and environmental issues such as floods, droughts, and bushfires. Australia is the driest inhabited continent on earth, making it particularly vulnerable to the challenges of climate change. Australia is home to 10 per cent of the world's biodiversity, and a great number of its flora and fauna exist nowhere else in the world. In January 2013, Australia assumed a nonpermanent seat on the UN Security Council for the 2013-14 term.
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How big is Australia compared to South Korea? See an in-depth size comparison.

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