The average life expectancy of South Korean babies has reached an all-time high.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday, the average life expectancy at birth jumped zero-point-two years from 2023 to 83-point-seven last year, the highest figure since the ministry began compiling related data in 1970.

Life expectancy fell in 2022 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, then resumed an upward trend in 2023.

Boys born last year are expected to live 80-point-eight years, and girls 86-point-six years, with the gender gap narrowing continuously since 1985, when it stood at eight-point-six years.

South Korea's life expectancy was two-point-three years higher than the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development(OECD) average among men and two-point-nine years higher among women.

Cancer is seen as the number one expected cause of death; a baby born last year has a 19.5 percent lifetime probability of dying from cancer, followed by pneumonia at ten-point-two percent and heart disease at ten percent.