Korea expected to enter super-aged society by end of this year

Elderly people play or watch janggi at Tapgol Park in Seoul on July 11. Yonhap News

The number of registered residents aged 65 and over in Korea has exceeded 10 million, putting the country on the verge of becoming a super-aged society. At this rate, the country is expected to enter a super-aged society by the first half of next year at the latest. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on July 10 that the number of registered residents aged 65 and over was 10.062 million, accounting for 19.51 percent of the total registered population (51.27 million).

The World Bank classifies a country as an "aging society" if the proportion of people aged 65 or older is more than 7 percent, an "aged society" if it is more than 14 percent, and a "super-aged society" if it is more than 20 percent, based on 65, the age at which people can claim social security.

According to Statistics Korea, Korea entered an aging society and an aged society in 2000 (7.2 percent) and 2018 (14.3 percent), respectively. The country’s entry point into a super-aged society is expected to be in the first half of 2025. However, based on the resident population, the entry into a super-aged society may be slightly earlier by the end of this year. According to the standard of Statistics Korea, which calculates the population based on residency, the entry point may be later than when it is based on the standard of the resident registration.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, there are 4.43 million men and 5.57 million women aged 65 and over, with women outnumbering men by 1.14 million. Of the registered population aged 65 and over, 4.49 million people live in the metropolitan area and 5.51 million live in the non-metropolitan area, with those in the non-metropolitan area outnumbering those in the metropolitan area by 1.02 million.

People aged 65 and older account for 17.24 percent of the total registered population (26.04 million) in the metropolitan area and 21.84 percent of the total registered population (25.23 million) in the non-metropolitan area.

By city and province, South Jeolla Province has the highest percentage at 26.67 percent, followed by North Gyeongsang Province, Gangwon Province, North Jeolla Province, Busan, South Chungcheong Province, North Chungcheong Province, North Chungcheong Province, South Gyeongsang Province, and Daegu. The lowest is Sejong at 11.32 percent. Busan has a higher percentage of people aged 65 than South Chungcheong Province and South Gyeongsang Province, indicating that the aging trend is serious regardless of city or region.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.