Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 5.6 times more likely to be obese

In South Korea, 4.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Israel, that number is 26.1% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 28.4% more likely to be unemployed

In South Korea, 2.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Israel, that number is 3.4% as of 2023.

be 52.8% more likely to live below the poverty line

In South Korea, 14.4% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Israel, however, that number is 22.0% as of 2014.

pay a 31.6% higher top tax rate

South Korea has a top tax rate of 38.0% as of 2016. In Israel, the top tax rate is 50.0% 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 Israel, 3.0 women do as of 2020.

have 2.8 times more children

In South Korea, there are approximately 6.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Israel, there are 19.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 24.0% more likely to die during infancy

In South Korea, approximately 2.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Israel, on the other hand, 3.6 children do as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 51.1% more on education

South Korea spends 4.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2019. Israel spends 7.1% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 88.7% less coastline

South Korea has a total of 2,413 km of coastline. In Israel, that number is 273 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, National Tax Service, South Korea, Israel Ministry of Finance Tax Authority.

Israel: At a glance

Israel is a sovereign country in Middle East, with a total land area of approximately 21,497 sq km. Following World War II, the British withdrew from their mandate of Palestine, and the UN proposed partitioning the area into Arab and Jewish states, an arrangement rejected by the Arabs. Nonetheless, an Israeli state was declared in 1948 and the Israelis subsequently defeated the Arabs in a series of wars without ending the deep tensions between the two sides. (The territories Israel occupied since the 1967 war are not included in the Israel country profile, unless otherwise noted.) On 25 April 1982, Israel withdrew from the Sinai pursuant to the 1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty. In keeping with the framework established at the Madrid Conference in October 1991, bilateral negotiations were conducted between Israel and Palestinian representatives and Syria to achieve a permanent settlement. Israel and Palestinian officials signed on 13 September 1993 a Declaration of Principles (also known as the "Oslo Accords"), enshrining the idea of a two-state solution to their conflict and guiding an interim period of Palestinian self-rule. Outstanding territorial and other disputes with Jordan were resolved in the 26 October 1994 Israel-Jordan Treaty of Peace. Progress toward a permanent status agreement with the Palestinians was undermined by Israeli-Palestinian violence between 2001 and February 2005. Israel in 2005 unilaterally disengaged from the Gaza Strip, evacuating settlers and its military while retaining control over most points of entry into the Gaza Strip. The election of HAMAS to head the Palestinian Legislative Council in 2006 froze relations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). In 2006 Israel engaged in a 34-day conflict with Hizballah in Lebanon in June-August 2006 and a 23-day conflict with HAMAS in the Gaza Strip during December 2008 and January 2009. Direct talks with the Palestinians launched in September 2010 collapsed following the expiration of Israel's 10-month partial settlement construction moratorium in the West Bank. In November 2012, Israel engaged in a seven-day conflict with HAMAS in the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Binyamin NETANYAHU formed a coalition government in March 2013 following general elections in January 2013. Direct talks with the Palestinians resumed in July 2013 and but were suspended in late April 2014.
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