South Korea to Be the "Oldest" Country in the World in 2070

The national population is aging at a steep pace, while the nation’s birth rate remains low. This has led to a forecast that expects South Korea to have the highest ratio of citizens ages 65 and older by 2070, when people born in 2005 will turn 65.

According to the Population Prospects of South Korea and the World released by Statistics Korea on September 5, this year 17.5% of the population in South Korea were senior citizens ages 65 and older, but this figure is expected to increase to 46.4%, nearly half the nation’s population, by 2070. By 2044, South Korea will surpass Japan and have the highest percentage of aged citizens, with the exception of Hong Kong. South Korea is expected to surpass Hong Kong by 2068.

The percentage of working-age population will continue to decline after peaking in 2012 and drop to 46.1% by 2070 (71.0% in 2022). In 2070, South Korea is expected to be the only country in the world with more elderly citizens than working-age citizens.

Thus, the gross domestic dependency ratio and the old-age dependency ratio are expected to record the highest in the world fifty years from now. The gross dependency ratio, which shows the number of people supported by every 100 working-age citizens, will increase 2.9 times from 40.8 in 2022 to 116.8 in 2070 in South Korea, the highest in the world with the exception of Saint-Barthélemy, an overseas collectivity of France.

The median age in South Korea is also expected to rise by 17.2 to 62.2 in 2070 from the 45.0 in 2022.