The life expectancy of babies born in South Korea last year reached 83-point-six years, rising by a mere zero-point-one year from a year earlier due largely to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Statistics Korea said on Tuesday that boys and girls born in 2021 are expected to live 80-point-six and 86-point-six years, respectively, with the gender gap decreasing since peaking at eight-point-six years in 1985.

Although life expectancy has maintained an upward trend for the last 51 years since 1970, the latest on-year advance is the smallest since 2018, when it rose zero-point-05 year from the year before.

COVID-19 is considered one of the main causes of the second-smallest annual increase, with one-point-six percent of deaths last year attributed to the virus, up zero-point-three percentage points from 2020.

Compared to the average of the 38 member states of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), South Korea's life expectancy for men and women are two-point-nine and three-point-five years longer, respectively.