South Korea’s coastline is 42 times as long as Iraq’s

Iraq: 58 km (2026 edition) · South Korea: 2,413 km (2026 edition)

Iraq’s highest peak towers 1,661 m above South Korea’s

Iraq: 3,611 m (2026 edition) · South Korea: 1,950 m (2026 edition)

Farmland covers 22% of Iraq, versus 16% of South Korea

Iraq: 21.6% (2024) · South Korea: 16% (2024)

South Korea has 10% more people than Iraq

Iraq: 47 million (2025) · South Korea: 51.7 million (2025)

South Korea is 4.9 times as densely populated as Iraq

Iraq: 108 per km² (2025) · South Korea: 530 per km² (2025)

The typical person in South Korea is 24 years older than in Iraq

Iraq: 20.3 years (2023) · South Korea: 44.5 years (2023)

Women in Iraq have 2.5 more children on average than in South Korea

Iraq: 3.22 children per woman (2024) · South Korea: 0.75 children per woman (2024)

20% of people in South Korea are 65 or older, versus 3.4% in Iraq

Iraq: 3.4% (2025) · South Korea: 20.3% (2025)

Iraq hosts 80 times as many refugees per resident as South Korea

Iraq: 6.9 per 1,000 (2025) · South Korea: 0.1 per 1,000 (2025)

South Korea has produced 0.6 Nobel laureates per 10 million people, Iraq 0.2

Iraq: 0.2 (2026) · South Korea: 0.6 (2026)

Iraq has 3 official languages, South Korea 1

Iraq: 3 (2026) · South Korea: 1 (2026)

South Korea’s economy is 7.4 times the size of Iraq’s

Iraq: $254 billion (2025) · South Korea: $1.87 trillion (2025)

South Korea produces 4.4 times as much per person as Iraq

Iraq: Int$14,267 (2025) · South Korea: Int$63,125 (2025)

Income is more unequally shared in South Korea than in Iraq (Gini 3.1 points higher)

Iraq: 29.8 (2023) · South Korea: 32.9 (2021)

Iraq and South Korea are practically level

Iraq: 0.5% (2023) · South Korea: 0.1% (2021)

Unemployment is 15% in Iraq, versus 2.7% in South Korea

Iraq: 15.5% (2025) · South Korea: 2.7% (2025)

South Korea and Iraq are practically level

Iraq: 2.4% (2025) · South Korea: 2.6% (2025)

South Korea’s central government collects 13% of GDP in tax, Iraq’s 1.3%

Iraq: 1.3% (2019) · South Korea: 13.3% (2024)

South Korea’s price level (US = 100) is 1.5× Iraq’s

Iraq: 38% (2025) · South Korea: 57% (2025)

South Korea spends 9.4 times as much on health per person as Iraq

Iraq: $333 (2023) · South Korea: $3,137 (2024)

A baby in Iraq is 8.7 times as likely to die before turning one as in South Korea

Iraq: 20.1 per 1,000 (2024) · South Korea: 2.3 per 1,000 (2024)

South Korea has 2.6 times as many doctors per person as Iraq

Iraq: 1 per 1,000 (2022) · South Korea: 2.6 per 1,000 (2022)

South Korea has 12 times as many hospital beds per person as Iraq

Iraq: 1.1 per 1,000 (2018) · South Korea: 12.8 per 1,000 (2022)

The suicide rate in South Korea is 4.6 times that in Iraq

Iraq: 5.1 per 100k (2023) · South Korea: 23.4 per 100k (2023)

37% of adults in Iraq are obese, versus 7.5% in South Korea

Iraq: 36.8% (2024) · South Korea: 7.5% (2024)

20% of adults in Iraq smoke, versus 19% in South Korea

Iraq: 20.1% (2024) · South Korea: 18.6% (2024)

People in South Korea rate their lives 0.83 points higher than in Iraq

Iraq: 5.21 (2025) · South Korea: 6.04 (2025)

Adults in South Korea drink 14 times as much alcohol as in Iraq

Iraq: 0.6 litres (2023) · South Korea: 8.3 litres (2023)

South Korea has 4 times as much meat per person as Iraq

Iraq: 21.1 kg (2023) · South Korea: 84 kg (2023)

South Korea has 1,060 kcal more food per person per day than Iraq

Iraq: 2,371 kcal (2023) · South Korea: 3,430 kcal (2023)

Workers in South Korea put in 327 more hours a year than in Iraq

Iraq: 1,583 hours (2023) · South Korea: 1,910 hours (2023)

Adults in South Korea went to school 5.9 years longer than in Iraq

Iraq: 6.8 years (2023) · South Korea: 12.7 years (2023)

Iraq: no data · South Korea: 0.32 (2024)

South Korea has 11 more World Heritage sites than Iraq (17 against 6)

Iraq: 6 (2026) · South Korea: 17 (2026)

South Korea has won 409 Olympic medals, Iraq 1

Iraq: 1 (2026 edition) · South Korea: 409 (2026 edition)

98% of people in South Korea are online, versus 81% in Iraq

Iraq: 81% (2024) · South Korea: 98% (2024)

Home internet in South Korea is 4.8 times as fast as in Iraq

Iraq: 62 Mbps (2026) · South Korea: 298 Mbps (2026)

Iraq and South Korea are practically level

Iraq: 100% (2024) · South Korea: 100% (2024)

81% of people in South Korea live in cities, versus 70% in Iraq

Iraq: 70% (2025) · South Korea: 81% (2025)

South Korea has 173 mobile subscriptions per 100 people, Iraq 100

Iraq: 100 (2024) · South Korea: 173 (2024)

South Korea’s railway network is 82% longer than Iraq’s

Iraq: 2,370 km (2014) · South Korea: 4,309 km (2021)

Airlines from South Korea fly 18 times as many passengers per resident as those from Iraq

Iraq: 0.08 (2023) · South Korea: 1.48 (2023)

Forest covers 64% of South Korea, but only 1.6% of Iraq

Iraq: 1.6% (2024) · South Korea: 64.4% (2024)

The average person in South Korea emits 2.2 times as much CO₂ as someone in Iraq

Iraq: 5.1 t (2024) · South Korea: 11.3 t (2024)

10% of South Korea’s electricity is renewable, versus 1.6% in Iraq

Iraq: 1.6% (2024) · South Korea: 10.4% (2025)

The air in Iraq carries 2.3 times as much fine dust as in South Korea

Iraq: 48.8 µg/m³ (2024) · South Korea: 21 µg/m³ (2024)

Iraq: no data · South Korea: 0.5 per 100k (2023)

Roads in Iraq are 3.6 times as deadly as in South Korea

Iraq: 31.5 per 100k (2023) · South Korea: 8.7 per 100k (2023)

Iraq is on average 10.7 °C warmer than South Korea

Iraq: 23.9°C (2016–2025 avg) · South Korea: 13.2°C (2016–2025 avg)

South Korea gets 5.9 times as much rain as Iraq

Iraq: 214 mm (2016–2025 avg) · South Korea: 1,265 mm (2016–2025 avg)