South Korea has ranked 19th out of 193 countries in terms of health, education and standard of living in a survey conducted by the United Nations Development Program(UNDP).

According to the UNDP's 2023/24 Human Development Report released on Wednesday, South Korea’s Human Development Index(HDI) stood at zero-point-929 as of 2022, putting the country in 19th place, or up one notch from the previous year. 

After placing 26th in terms of HDI in 2009, South Korea saw its ranking climb to 12th in 2010 and 2012. 

The HDI is a composite index that assesses the overall level of human development based on life expectancy at birth, expected years of schooling and gross national income (GNI) per capita. 

Switzerland came in first in HDI, like last year, followed by Norway, Iceland, Hong Kong, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. 

Somalia ranked at the very bottom. 

North Korea was not ranked as the UN agency was unable to confirm key data other than life expectancy. 

The UNDP also assessed that since slipping for the first time ever in both 2020 and 2021, the global HDI value has since rebounded to a projected record high in 2023. The agency said all components of the global HDI are projected to exceed their values prior to 2019, or before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out.