Prevalence and Current Status of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Korean Adults Based on Fact Sheets 2024

Korea has entered 'super-aged' society in 2025 with the proportion of people 65 years or older exceeding 20% as of the end of the year 2024. The health burden of cardiovascular diseases increases with age, and the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia, may be linked to increased population-level cardiovascular risk. According to data from 2022, the overall prevalence of obesity reached 38.4%, marking a continued upward trend, based on National Health Insurance medical checkup data. In the combined data of 2021 to 2022, the prevalence of diabetes was 15.5% in Koreans older than 30 years according to the Diabetes Fact Sheet 2024 published by the Korean Diabetes Association, based on data from the Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The prevalence of hypertension in the total population of Korea in 2022 was 30% according to the Korean Hypertension Fact Sheet produced by the Korean Society of Hypertension. Lastly, the prevalence of dyslipidemia in 2022 was 40.9% according to the Dyslipidemia Fact Sheet published by the Korean Society of Lipid and Atherosclerosis. In this article, I would like to review the prevalence and current management of cardiovascular risk factors in Korea according to the fact sheets released by various associations in 2024.