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Critical challenges loom as Korea becomes a super-aged society

Published: 24 Dec. 2024, 17:22 Updated: 25 Dec. 2024, 18:30

KIM JU-YEON
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Senior citizens wait to receive food at the Wongaksa soup kitchen near Tapgol Park in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Dec. 24. Korea became a ″super-aged society,″ classified by the United Nations when the population aged 65 years or older account for more than 20 percent of the total population, as of Dec. 23. [YONHAP]

Korea has become a super-aged society. This classification was anticipated years ago based on the trend of an aging population and a declining birthrate, the latter of which the government has spent more than 380 trillion won ($261 billion) since 2006 to address.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported Tuesday that the population aged 65 and older has reached 10.2 million, making up 20 percent of the total registered population of 51.2 million as of Monday, meeting the United Nations' criteria for a "super-aged" society.

The UN categorizes societies where the percentage of the population aged 65 or older is between 7 to 14 percent as an "aging society," between 14 to 20 percent as an "aged society" and more than 20 percent as "super-aged." Korea now joins Japan, Germany and France in this category.

Data also revealed that the elderly population has more than doubled since 2008, when it stood at 4.9 million.

Men aged 65 and older make up 17.8 percent of the population, while women in that age group account for 22.15 percent, 4.34 percentage points more.

The population of those 65 or over is more concentrated in areas outside of the greater Seoul area, where it accounts for 22.38 percent, 4.68 percentage points higher than the 17.7 percent in the capital region.

“With the percentage of the population aged 65 or older now exceeding 20 percent, implementing fundamental and systematic measures has become more urgent than simply creating a dedicated department to resolve the aging population issue,” said Kim Min-jae, deputy minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, in a news release.

While an aged society reflects increased longevity and better health among older individuals, the demographic shift poses significant health, social and economic challenges that Korea, Asia's fourth-largest economy, must anticipate and address.

This includes the country's alarmingly low birthrate, which has wide-reaching consequences, such as a shrinking work force and an increasing fiscal burden on younger generations for public pensions and health care.

President Yoon Suk Yeol said he would create a ministry dedicated to population strategy and planning in July. The inaugural meeting for the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, also created by Yoon to tackle Korea's low birth rate, was held on March 28. Pictured is the committee's office in Jongno District, central Seoul, on May 10. [YONHAP]

Korea's total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — fell to a record low of 0.72 in 2023.

The Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy projects a slight increase to 0.74 in 2024, marking the first rebound since 2015. However, this rate is still far below the replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman, which is necessary to maintain a stable population without immigration.

Statistics Korea forecasts the country's population will shrink by 42 percent over the next 50 years and by 79 percent in 100 years, even with a projected fertility rate of 0.82, still higher than this year's estimate.

Experts attribute the declining birthrate to multiple factors, including a highly competitive society that starts in the education system, long working hours, high housing costs and societal norms that discourage women from marrying or having children, particularly outside of marriage.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]