South Korea vs Vietnam
South Korea vs Vietnam: Inflation
Inflation in 2025: 2.1% a year in South Korea and 3.3% a year in Vietnam, by IMF estimates. In 2025 the value was higher in Vietnam, by 1.2 percentage points, or 1.56 times that in South Korea.
% a year · IMF
What the numbers say
- Vietnam has been higher since 2024, when it overtook South Korea.
- In 2025, South Korea ranked 113 and Vietnam ranked 77 of 179 countries, counting from the highest.
- The IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) puts South Korea at 2% a year and Vietnam at 3.8% a year in 2031.
Every year
% a year · IMF
| Year | South Korea | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2.1 | 3.3 |
| 2024 | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| 2023 | 3.6 | 3.3 |
| 2022 | 5.1 | 3.2 |
| 2021 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| 2020 | 0.5 | 3.2 |
| 2019 | 0.4 | 2.8 |
| 2018 | 1.5 | 3.5 |
| 2017 | 1.9 | 3.5 |
| 2016 | 1 | 2.7 |
| 2015 | 0.7 | 0.6 |
| 2014 | 1.3 | 4.1 |
| 2013 | 1.3 | 6.6 |
| 2012 | 2.2 | 9.1 |
| 2011 | 4 | 18.7 |
| 2010 | 2.9 | 10.5 |
| 2009 | 2.8 | 6.7 |
| 2008 | 4.7 | 23.1 |
| 2007 | 2.5 | 8.3 |
| 2006 | 2.2 | 7.5 |
| 2005 | 2.8 | 8.4 |
| 2004 | 3.6 | 7.9 |
| 2003 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
| 2002 | 2.8 | 4.1 |
| 2001 | 4.1 | -0.3 |
| 2000 | 2.3 | -1.8 |
| 1999 | 0.8 | 4.1 |
| 1998 | 7.5 | 7.2 |
| 1997 | 4.4 | 3.1 |
| 1996 | 4.9 | 5.6 |
| 1995 | 4.5 | 16.9 |
| 1994 | 6.3 | 10.4 |
| 1993 | 4.8 | 8.4 |
| 1992 | 6.2 | 37.7 |
| 1991 | 9.3 | 81.8 |
| 1990 | 8.6 | 36 |
| 1989 | 5.7 | 95.8 |
| 1988 | 7.1 | 374.4 |
| 1987 | 3 | 360.4 |
| 1986 | 2.8 | 453.5 |
| 1985 | 2.5 | 91.6 |
| 1984 | 2.3 | 64.9 |
| 1983 | 3.4 | 49.5 |
| 1982 | 7.2 | 95.4 |
| 1981 | 21.4 | 69.6 |
| 1980 | 28.7 | 25.2 |
IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026) · 2026–2031
| Year | South Korea | Vietnam |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 2.7 | 4.7 |
| 2027 | 2.3 | 4.9 |
| 2028 | 2 | 4.7 |
| 2029 | 2 | 4.6 |
| 2030 | 2 | 4.2 |
| 2031 | 2 | 3.8 |
Each country on its own
Good to know
- How much consumer prices rose in a year, on average.
- Source: IMF, World Economic Outlook, October 2026.
- The dashed line is the IMF projection (World Economic Outlook, October 2026), a scenario rather than a forecast.
- Ranks count the 179 countries with a value in 2025, highest first.
How the layers work, where their data comes from and what they can’t tell you: Countries through time
South Korea vs Vietnam
Health
- Life expectancySouth Korea: 84.3 years in 2023Vietnam: 74.6 years in 2023
- Child mortalitySouth Korea: 0.3 per 100 live births in 2024Vietnam: 1.7 per 100 live births in 2024
- Infant mortalitySouth Korea: 2.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023Vietnam: 15.1 per 1,000 live births in 2023
- Safe drinking waterSouth Korea: 99.3% in 2022Vietnam: 57.8% in 2022
- DepressionSouth Korea: 3.17% in 2017Vietnam: 2.88% in 2017
- Suicide rateSouth Korea: 20.8 per 100,000 people in 2017Vietnam: 7.4 per 100,000 people in 2017
People
- PopulationSouth Korea: 51.8 million people in 2023Vietnam: 100 million people in 2023
- Population growthSouth Korea: -0.04% a year in 2023Vietnam: 0.64% a year in 2023
- Fertility rateSouth Korea: 0.72 births per woman in 2023Vietnam: 1.91 births per woman in 2023
- Urban populationSouth Korea: 81.2% in 2025Vietnam: 38.8% in 2025
- Median ageSouth Korea: 44.5 years in 2023Vietnam: 32.4 years in 2023
- People aged 65 and overSouth Korea: 18.3% in 2023Vietnam: 8.6% in 2023
- Net migration rateSouth Korea: 1.7 per 1,000 people in 2023Vietnam: -0.8 per 1,000 people in 2023
Economy
Education
Politics
Conflict
Military
- Military spendingSouth Korea: 2.6% of GDP in 2025Vietnam: 2.15% of GDP in 2025
- Military spending in US dollarsSouth Korea: $48.9B in 2025Vietnam: $10.9B in 2025
- Military spending per personSouth Korea: $924 in 2025Vietnam: $104 in 2025
- Military share of state spendingSouth Korea: 10.8% of government spending in 2025Vietnam: 9.9% of government spending in 2025
- Armed forces personnelSouth Korea: 569,000 people in 2020Vietnam: 522,000 people in 2020
- National powerSouth Korea: 2% of world capability in 2022Vietnam: 1.11% of world capability in 2022
- Armed forces, share of workersSouth Korea: 2.01% of the labour force in 2020Vietnam: 0.95% of the labour force in 2020
- Arms importsSouth Korea: 222 million TIV in 2025Vietnam: 177 million TIV in 2025
- Arms exportsSouth Korea: 2.02 billion TIV in 2025Vietnam: 10 million TIV in 2018