By Kim Sung-jin
Staff Reporter



The life expectancy of South Korean females surpassed the average life expectancy of the members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the first time in 2003.

According to the 2003 ``life table’’ compiled by the National Statistical Office (NSO), women born in 2003 are expected to outlive men by nearly seven years on average.

The table showed that the life expectancy of Koreans jumped to 77.5 years in 2003, up from 72.8 years in 1993. Compared with 2002, Koreans’ average life expectancy lengthened by six months in 2003.

The life table, which shows a representation of the survivorship of a defined population, indicated that the life expectancy of a Korean girl born in 2003 reached 80.8 years, compared to 73.9 years for a boy born in the same year.

The gender gap in life expectancy has constantly narrowed from 8.37 years in 1985 to 8.04 years in 1993 and to 7.06 years in 2002, the report showed.

``The narrowing disparity is largely attributed to the male mortality rate that is decreasing at a faster rate than the female mortality rate,’’ NSO director Kim Dong-hoi said.

The Korean males’ life expectancy still fell short of the 30-member OECD average of 74.9 years in 2003, but Korean females’ life expectancy hovered above the OECD average of 80.7 years.

Korean women’s life expectancy lengthened by four years from 76.8 years 10 years ago and Korean men’s life expectancy increased five years from 68.8 years of a decade ago.

Japan topped the OECD list with its female life expectancy reaching 85.3 years.

Korea was 19th in female life expectancy among OECD members, but outstripped the U.S. (79.9 years), Denmark (79.5 years), the U.K. (80.7 years) and Greece (80.7 years).

Korea ranked 24th among 30 OECD members in male life expectancy.

The NSO said Korean men aged 65 years old could expect to live an additional 15.1 years, while women of the same age could live another 19 years.

The life table also showed that the probability of males born in 2003 to survive until 80 years old stands at 39.3 percent, up 12.46 percentage points from a decade earlier, while that of newborn females reached 63.12 percent, up 11.24 percentage points.

The statistical office said the rapid increase in the probability of longer life indicates Korean society’s speedy transition into an aged society.

The probability of 45-year-old males contracting cancer was 28.39 percent, nearly twice the 15.52 percent of females of the same age.

Cancer was the biggest cause of death of male adults aged 45 years old, followed by cerebrovascular disorders and cardiovascular diseases.

The NSO said removal of such causes of death could extend the life expectancy of Korean males by 10.9 years and that of Korean females by 6.4 years.

sjkim@koreatimes.co.kr