Korea’s Childhood Immunization Rates Remain High Compared to Leading Countries



- The full immunization rate for 6-year-olds rose for the third consecutive year to 89.8%, the highest since 2018.

- Active public participation has maintained vaccination rates that are 1–16 percentage points higher per vaccine compared to those in the US, Australia, and the UK.



Osong, 6th August 2024 – The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced ‘National Childhood Vaccination Coverage in Korea, 2023’ on Monday, July 29, 2024.



This survey has been conducted annually since 2011 to identify the vaccination rates of key age groups (1-3 years old and 6 years old) under the national immunization program. These statistics serve as a basis for establishing national immunization policies and are publicly available on the national immunization website (https://nip.kdca.go.kr).



According to the 2023 statistics, the full immunization rates* by age were 96.4% for 1-year-olds, 92.9% for 2-year-olds, 89.2% for 3-year-olds, and 89.8% for 6-year-olds.

*The full immunization rate refers to the percentage of children who have fully received the recommended number of doses of each vaccine by age according to the standard immunization schedule.



Compared to 2022, the immunization rates for ages 1-3 remained relatively stable, while the rate for 6-year-olds increased by 1.2 percentage points. Notably, the immunization rate for 6-year-olds has increased for the third consecutive year, rising from 83.5% in 2020 to 89.8% in 2023, marking a 6.3 percentage point increase. This is the highest rate since 2018, when statistics for that age group were first recorded.



Korea demonstrated higher childhood immunization rates* (1-16 percentage points) for all six key vaccines compared to leading countries such as the U.S., Australia and the U.K.

* Based on the comparable immunization rates by vaccine type for 2-year-olds (DTaP, IPV, MMR, VAR (excluding the U.K.), Hib, and PCV) published by leading countries.



KDCA Commissioner Youngmee Jee stated, “Thanks to the active participation of parents and children in the national immunization program, Korea has achieved high immunization rates in 2023, and strong immunity against key vaccine-preventable diseases has been developed in children.”



She also advised, “Parents are encouraged to complete vaccinations according to the standard vaccination schedule to protect their children from preventable infectious diseases.”





* For detailed information, please refer to the press release written in the Korean language in the file attached below.