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Born in 2016

A closer look at your age if you were born in 2016.

    Your age
  • International age9 or 10
  • Korean age11
  • Year age10
    • Zodiac and cycle
  • tti (Korean zodiac animal)Red Monkey
  • Sexagenary cycleByeong-sin (丙申年)
  • Five element Fire (火)
  • Leap yearLeap year
Other Monkey years
1980age 45-461992age 33-342004age 21-22

Life timeline for people born in 2016 🗓️

Key milestones by age, year by year.

  1. Born
    2016Age 0
  2. Starts elementary school
    2023Age 6-7 · elementary

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

  3. Starts middle schoolUpcoming
    2029Age 12-13 · middle school
  4. Can take a part-time jobUpcoming
    2031Age 15

    Under 15, or under 18 and still in middle school, you need an employment permit (Labor Standards Act, Art. 64).

  5. Starts high schoolUpcoming
    2032Age 15-16 · high school
  6. Gets a resident registration cardUpcoming
    2033Age 17

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

  7. Can get a driver's licenceUpcoming
    2034Age 18

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

  8. Can voteUpcoming
    2034Age 18

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

  9. Can buy alcohol and tobaccoUpcoming
    2035Year age 19

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

  10. Legal adulthoodUpcoming
    2035Age 19

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

  11. Military service examinationUpcoming
    2035Year age 19

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

  12. Statutory retirement ageUpcoming
    2076Age 60

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

  13. National Pension startsUpcoming
    2081Age 65

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

The year you were born: 2016

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

📰 What happened that year
  1. January 6☢️ North Korea announced that it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
  2. March 15🤖 Lee Se-dol, a ninth-dan Go player, lost his match against the AI AlphaGo, four games to one.
  3. April 13🗳️ The Saenuri Party was routed and the Minjoo Party came out on top in the 20th National Assembly election, leaving a three-party legislature.
  4. June 24🇬🇧 In the United Kingdom's referendum on staying in the European Union, voters chose to leave the European Union.
  5. August 5🏅 The 31st Summer Olympics opened in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
  6. September 12🌏 A magnitude 5.8 earthquake, the biggest ever recorded in the country, struck Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang Province.
  7. November 9🇺🇸 Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton in the U.S. presidential election and became the 45th president.
  8. December 9🏛️ The National Assembly passed a motion to impeach President Park Geun-hye, suspending her from office.
🎬 Films and TV from that year
TV drama "Descendants of the Sun"TV drama "Goblin"TV drama "Signal"TV drama "Love in the Moonlight"TV drama "The Legend of the Blue Sea"TV drama "Dr. Romantic"

Source: Wikipedia · retold from the record

2016 by the numbers

Population and other key statistics.

  • Births in 2016406,243
  • Registered residents in 2025414,059

There are more people registered now than were born that year. ✨

The resident register also counts people who became Korean citizens later, so it can run past the birth count.

  • Life expectancy at birth82.4 yrsMen 79.3 · Women 85.4Born in 2024: 83.7 yrs
  • Births per woman1.17Children per woman over a lifetimeIn 2025: 0.8
  • Sex ratio at birth105105 boys per 100 girls

Source: Statistics Korea birth statistics and life tables; Ministry of the Interior and Safety resident population(as of 2025)

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Frequently asked questions ❓

In 2026, someone born in 2016 is 10 if they've already had their birthday this year and 9 if they haven't. In Korean age they're 11, and their year age is 10.
Counting from 2026, a 9-year-old was born in 2016.
2016 is the year of the Red Monkey. In the sexagenary cycle it's Byeong-sin (丙申), and because the heavenly stem carries the element Fire (火), the animal picks up the color Red. One catch: the tti turns over at ipchun, around February 4, so a birthday before that counts as the previous year's animal.
Yes. 2016 runs 366 days and February goes all the way to the 29th, so some people born in 2016 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 🌐