Republic of Korea – 81.43

One of four Asian countries in the top fifteen, the Republic of Korea (South Korea) follows an Asian trend in putting greater emphasis on health than much of the Western World. Despite Koreans’ generally long lives, they face a major and increasing problem from environmental pollution and urbanization with almost half of the 51 million Koreans livings in the Seoul metropolitan area. Also, mental health is of concern in South Korea, home to the industrialized world’s highest suicide rate with 26 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants in 2008.