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Born in 1972

If you were born in 1972, you're 53 or 54 in 2026 - and your tti (Korean zodiac animal) is the Black Rat.

    Your age in 2026
  • International age53 or 54
  • Korean age55
  • Year age54
    • The year 1972
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Black Rat
  • Sexagenary cycleIm-ja (壬子年)
  • Five element Water (水)
  • Leap yearLeap year
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Black RatIm-ja (壬子年) · Water (水)

In the sexagenary cycle, 1972 is Im-ja (壬子年). Its heavenly stem carries the element Water (水), and that element decides the color - which makes it a year of the Black Rat (子).

Born 12 years apart - same Rat
1936age 901948age 781960age 661984age 421996age 302008age 18

The year you were born: 1972

Here's what the world was up to that year 👀

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 30🕯️ British paratroopers opened fire on demonstrators in Derry, Northern Ireland, killing 14 people. (Bloody Sunday)
  2. February 21✈️ U.S. President Richard Nixon spent a week in China.
  3. May 25🏝️ The Ryukyu Islands were returned to Japanese control.
  4. July 4🤝 South and North Korea issued the July 4th North-South Joint Statement.
  5. August 11⚔️ The last U.S. ground combat unit in the Vietnam War pulled out of South Vietnam.
  6. September 5🏟️ Members of Black September attacked the Olympic Village in Munich.
  7. October 17🏛️ President Park Chung-hee declared emergency rule on October 17, dissolving the National Assembly and suspending party politics. marking the beginning of the October Yushin
  8. December 27📜 The Yushin Constitution was promulgated and Park Chung-hee was sworn in as the 8th president.
⭐ Born that year
Yoo Jae-suk, TV personalityBae Yong-joon, actorJang Dong-gun, actorZinedine Zidane, former French soccer playerBen Affleck, American actorEminem, American rapper
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "The Journey"TV drama "Stepmother"Film "Insect Woman"
🏆 Nobel Prizes that year
  • EconomicsJohn Hicks, Kenneth Arrow
  • LiteratureHeinrich Böll
  • PhysicsJohn Bardeen, Leon Cooper, John Robert Schrieffer
  • Physiology or MedicineGerald Edelman, Rodney Robert Porter
  • ChemistryChristian B. Anfinsen, Stanford Moore, William Howard Stein
  • Peacenot awarded

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

Life timeline for people born in 1972 🗓️

What someone born in 1972 becomes eligible for, year by year.

  1. Born
    1972Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    1979Age 6 · elementary

    The March after turning 6 - Korean school years start in March, not September.

  3. Starts middle school
    1985Age 12 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time job
    1987Age 15

    Ages 13-14 can work only with an employment permit (Labor Standards Act).

  5. Starts high school
    1988Age 15 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration card
    1989Age 17

    Issued from the first day of the month after turning 17 (Resident Registration Act).

  7. Can get a driver's licence
    1990Age 18

    Class 2 ordinary licence. Mopeds are allowed from 16 (Road Traffic Act).

  8. Can vote
    1990Age 18

    Must be 18 on election day (Public Official Election Act).

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobacco
    1991Year age 19

    From January 1 of the year you turn 19 - this one uses year age, not your birthday (Youth Protection Act).

  10. Legal adulthood
    1991Age 19

    Adulthood begins on the 19th birthday (Civil Act, Article 4).

  11. Military service examination
    1991Year age 19

    Held in the year a man turns 19 (Military Service Act · year age · men only).

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2032Age 60

    The floor employers must set, not a fixed date (Act on Prohibition of Age Discrimination · reference).

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2037Age 65

    Between 63 and 65 depending on your birth year, with at least 10 years of contributions (National Pension Act · reference).

Ages follow international age unless noted. Buying alcohol or tobacco and the military service examination use year age - the calendar year you turn that age - so they can land a year earlier than you expect. School entry, retirement and the National Pension are general rules and can differ case by case.

1972 by the numbers

What Korea's statistics office recorded about 1972.

Babies born in 1972

952,780babies

Then and now
  • When they were born952,780
  • Today (2025)877,870

92% of that year's babies are still here with us. ✨

  • Life expectancy at birth63.1 yrsMen 59.4 · Women 66.8Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman4.12Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth109.5109.5 boys per 100 girls

Source: Statistics Korea - Birth Statistics(1970~2025) and Life Tables(~2024); Ministry of the Interior and Safety - Resident Registration Population(as of 2025) (KOSIS)

Famous people born in 1972 ⭐

Lee Jung-jaeActorDecember 15, 1972 · 53 years old🖤 Black RatBae Yong-joonActor, ModelAugust 29, 1972 · 53 years old🖤 Black RatYoo Jae-sukTV hostAugust 14, 1972 · 54 years old🖤 Black RatSeo TaijiSingerFebruary 21, 1972 · 54 years old🖤 Black RatJang Dong-geonSinger, ActorMarch 7, 1972 · 54 years old🖤 Black RatPaul Sun-Hyung LeeActorAugust 16, 1972 · 54 years old🖤 Black RatJang Seo-huiActorJanuary 5, 1972 · 54 years old🖤 Black RatJang Jin-youngActor, ModelJune 14, 1972 · 54 years old🖤 Black Rat
Who else was born in 1972?Everyone born in 1972

Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 1972 is 54 if they've already had their birthday this year and 53 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 55, and their year age is 54.
Counting from 2026, a 53-year-old was born in 1972.
1972 is the year of the Black Rat. In the sexagenary cycle it's Im-ja (壬子), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Water (水), the animal picks up the color Black. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
Yes. 1972 runs 366 days and February goes all the way to the 29th, so some people born in 1972 only get a real birthday every four years.
Korean age starts at 1 the day you're born, and everybody adds a year together on January 1 instead of on their birthday. That makes it one or two years higher than international age. Since June 2023, Korean law, contracts, and official documents all use international age, but you'll still hear Korean age in everyday conversation.

Sources 🌐