Young Korean population projected to 'halve by 2050'

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Young Korean population projected to 'halve by 2050'

The number of young Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate. [JANG JEONG-PIL]

The number of young Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate. [JANG JEONG-PIL]

The number of young Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate, according to Statistics Korea on Monday.
 
The number of people aged 19-34 came to 10.21 million in 2020, and the figure is forecast to drop to 5.21 million by 2050, according to the data agency.
 
People aged 19-34 came to 10.21 million in 2020, and the figure is forecast to tumble to 5.21 million in 2050.
 
The proportion of the young population out of the country's total came to 20.4 percent in 2020, but it is expected to fall to 11 percent in 2050.
 
The number of young people has been on a steady decline over the past decades from 13.85 million in 1990, accounting for 31.9 percent of the total, to 12.88 million in 2000, 10.97 million in 2010 and 10.21 million in 2020.
 
The country's total fertility rate — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — came to a record low of around 0.7 in 2023.
 
Contributing to the fertility rate is the rate of unmarried people in the age group, which has risen over previous decades. In 2020, 7.84 million young people were unmarried, accounting for 81.5 percent of the total population of the age bracket. The proportion was 54.5 percent in 2000 and grew to 68.9 percent in 2010.  
 
In a widening regional divide, 53.8 percent of young people lived in the Greater Seoul Area. More people were moving to the metropolitan area but were moving out of the Jeolla and Gyeongsang Provinces, according to the agency's report.  
 
Korea saw a sharp increase in the number of economically active young women, with the rate of female workers jumping from 42.3 percent in 2000 to 61.1 percent in 2020.  
 
Among men, 63.9 percent had a job in 2020, compared to 66 percent 20 years ago, the data showed.
 
In 2020, 53 percent of the young population had a degree from a university or a higher education institution. More women had graduated from college than men, with 58.4 percent of university or higher degree holders being women and 47.8 percent being men.
 

BY KIM JU-YEON, YONHAP [kim.juyeon2@joongang.co.kr]
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