Alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized in South Korea
South Korea: Alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized was 16.2% in 2020. ▲ Rising
Alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized in South Korea, 2000–2020
Source: World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory.
Analysis
In 2020, alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized in South Korea stood at 16.2%. That is the highest value across all 21 years on record.
That represents a change of up 2.0% on the previous year and up 13.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized in South Korea peaked at 16.2% in 2020 and was at its lowest, 12.4%, in 2001.
That places South Korea 62nd out of 186 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 21 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 13.3% | 12.4% | 14.0% | 10 |
| 2010s | 15.0% | 14.2% | 15.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.2% | 16.2% | 16.2% | 1 |
Countries ranked near South Korea
More social development data for South Korea
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of asy 4,407 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of ori 117 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh 2 (2025)
- Democracy lexical 1 (2025)
- Human rights index vs electoral democracy index 0.912 (2025)
- Liberal democracy index 0.739 (2025)
- Electoral democracy index 0.819 (2025)
- Freedom of association index 0.839 (2025)
- Freedom of expression index 0.933 (2025)
- Participatory democracy index 0.551 (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized in South Korea?
- Alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized in South Korea was 16.2% in 2020, according to World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory.
- What is the highest alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized recorded in South Korea?
- The highest recorded value was 16.2% in 2020.
- What is the lowest alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized recorded in South Korea?
- The lowest recorded value was 12.4% in 2001.
- How does South Korea rank for alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized?
- South Korea ranks 62nd out of 186 countries with data for 2020.
- Is alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized rising or falling in South Korea?
- Over the last ten years it is up 13.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this South Korea data come from?
- The figures come from World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory, published as part of Alcohol, former drinkers (%), age-standardized. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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CSV · JSON — 21 observations, free to reuse under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO (WHO).