S. Korea's population thins for the first time this year, to lose nearly 30% by 2070

[Photo by MK DB]

South Korea’s total population including non-Koreans residing in the country would fall for the first time this year and lose fast to stop at 37 million by 2070, nearly 30 percent off from current level, according to the national statistics office.

Statistics Korea on Thursday projected the total population would drop by 90,000 to 51.84 million this year from 51.75 million last year owing to fewer foreign addition amid pandemic.

A half a century later, the number will shrink to 37 million.

Thinning in the working-age population (15 to 64) would pose greater demographic challenge, the office said.

The agency forecast that the population would decrease by around 60,000 annually over the next decade. The decline is relatively slow over the next two decades with 51.2 million in 2030 and 50.19 million in 2040, but the population will drop sharply to 47.36 million in 2050, 42.62 million in 2060, and 37.66 million in 2070. This forecast assumes that the total fertility rate, which refers to the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime, will recover to 1.21 in 2046 after falling from 0.84 last year to 0.70, the lowest level in 2024.

Under the agency’s worst-case scenario, the country’s population will reach 50.15 million in 2030 and 31.53 million in 2070, a decrease of 23.1 million in 50 years.

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