South Korea's Size and Economy in Numbers
South Korea is the world's 109th-largest country by area but its 13th-largest economy. Here is that contrast in numbers, from the World Bank.
South Korea's GDP was $1.872 trillion in 2025, 13th among the 186 economies with World Bank data for that year, behind Brazil and Spain and ahead of Mexico, Australia and Türkiye. The economies without 2025 data are all smaller. In 2024 it ranked 12th. The Bank of Korea's own count of 2025 GDP, shown elsewhere on this site, is slightly different ($1.88 trillion).
South Korea covers 100,450 square kilometres, about the size of Iceland. It ranks 109th of the 215 economies in World Bank data for 2023, the latest year available.
South Korea had 51.68 million people in 2025, 29th of 217 economies in World Bank data, between Colombia and Sudan.
In current U.S. dollars, South Korea's GDP per person rose from $159 in 1960 to $36,227 in 2025. Adjusted for inflation (constant 2015 dollars), it grew about 36 times.
South Korea's GDP per person, 1960–2025
Unit: current US$. World Bank, World Development Indicators, NY.GDP.PCAP.CD (GDP per capita, current US$), via the World Bank API. Fetched 2026-10-04; last updated 2026-07-13. Not adjusted for inflation.
Data table
| Year | current US$ |
|---|---|
| 1960 | 159 |
| 1961 | 94 |
| 1962 | 107 |
| 1963 | 147 |
| 1964 | 124 |
| 1965 | 109 |
| 1966 | 134 |
| 1967 | 162 |
| 1968 | 200 |
| 1969 | 245 |
| 1970 | 282 |
| 1971 | 304 |
| 1972 | 328 |
| 1973 | 412 |
| 1974 | 572 |
| 1975 | 627 |
| 1976 | 847 |
| 1977 | 1,073 |
| 1978 | 1,429 |
| 1979 | 1,814 |
| 1980 | 1,746 |
| 1981 | 1,918 |
| 1982 | 2,032 |
| 1983 | 2,246 |
| 1984 | 2,469 |
| 1985 | 2,543 |
| 1986 | 2,911 |
| 1987 | 3,658 |
| 1988 | 4,889 |
| 1989 | 5,989 |
| 1990 | 6,813 |
| 1991 | 7,873 |
| 1992 | 8,387 |
| 1993 | 9,180 |
| 1994 | 10,734 |
| 1995 | 13,002 |
| 1996 | 13,865 |
| 1997 | 12,822 |
| 1998 | 8,583 |
| 1999 | 11,063 |
| 2000 | 12,710 |
| 2001 | 11,981 |
| 2002 | 13,643 |
| 2003 | 15,212 |
| 2004 | 17,122 |
| 2005 | 20,167 |
| 2006 | 22,610 |
| 2007 | 25,078 |
| 2008 | 22,252 |
| 2009 | 19,937 |
| 2010 | 24,071 |
| 2011 | 26,175 |
| 2012 | 26,601 |
| 2013 | 28,449 |
| 2014 | 30,667 |
| 2015 | 30,172 |
| 2016 | 30,832 |
| 2017 | 33,297 |
| 2018 | 35,364 |
| 2019 | 33,827 |
| 2020 | 33,646 |
| 2021 | 37,518 |
| 2022 | 34,822 |
| 2023 | 35,674 |
| 2024 | 36,239 |
| 2025 | 36,227 |
All sources for the numbers on this site
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