A Study of Life Table of Korean People : Based on 1986 Data

한국인의 생명표 작성에 관한 연구

In recent years the life expectancy of the Korean people has been increasing appreciably because of the improvement in living conditions and public health facilities as well. However, there exist considerable constraints in the measurement of Korea's mortality rate. In elaboration, there are quite a few persons who do not submit birth and death reports, thereby lowering the reliability of statistical data. The 1978-1979 life table of the Korean people is still considered the latest one. Nevertheless, a decade has passed since its publication, and the need for a better life table reflecting realities is inc-reasingly growing. Capitalizing on the annual report of demographic statistics and demographic sample survey data m 1988, I have worked out the 1986 tentative life table of the Korean people and found out the following : 1. The male life expectancy in the 1978-1979 life table of the Korean people is 62.7 years old, and that of the female sex is 69.1 years old whereas the average life expectancy of the male sex in the 1986 life table stands at 66.3 years old, and that of the female sex is 74.5 years old. The average life expectancy is up by 3.5 years old for the male sex and also, up 5.4 years old for the female sex, res-pe ctively. 2. A gap between the male and female life expectancies in the 1978-1979 life table was 6.4 years old, while that of the 1986 life table was 8.2 years old. It means the female life expectancy has increased substantially. 3. The infant mortality rate has decreased, compared with the 1978-1979 level, yet it is still above those of Japan and Taiwan. 4. The mortality rate of the middle - aged men in the forties remains high, as was the case in the 1978-1979 period.