Aging of South Korea

In South Korea, aging refers to an increase in the proportion of senior citizens to the total population. The term "senior citizens" include those aged 65 or older. According to Article 3 no.1 of the Framework Act on Low Birthrate of an Aging Society, the term "aging population" refers to the increasing proportion of elderly people in the entire population.^[1]

Aging is often caused by the dramatic improvement of living standards derived from the development of science and medicine, increasing the life expectancy of the average individual; however, aging is also greatly affected by the decrease in birth rates. In 2045, South Korea will become the world's most aged population, with a great portion of the population becoming aged 65 or older. With its entrance as an aged society in 2017, South Korea will see its aging population reach the fastest pace in the world, with the proportion of people aged 65 or older soaring to an unprecedented 46.5 percent in 2067. By 2067, the working age population is expected to decrease so that it is less than the elderly population.^[2]

The decline of the fertility rate in South Korea has become a prominent issue within the country. South Korea's birth rate has declined since 1960.^[3] Until the 1980s, it was widely believed that this demographic trend would end and that the population would eventually stabilize.^[3] However, South Korean society faces a decline in its future population because of the continuously decreasing birth rate.^[3] After the baby boom in the 1950s, the population increased drastically, and the South Korean government implemented an anti-natalistic policy in the 1960s. This government program mandated that South Korean healthcare centers provide a family planning consultation by introducing traditional contraception methods, including intrauterine devices (IUDs), vasectomies, and condoms to the public.^[3] Along with this policy and economic growth, the fertility rate declined because more married women pursued wealth and a higher standard of living rather than raising children. After the economic crisis in 1997, the fertility rate declined rapidly. After the economic crisis, young people had less economic and professional security, leading many young men and women to delay marriage.^[4] In 2021, this culminated in South Korea experiencing a natural population decline, for the first time in history.^[5] Analysts state that South Korea's current low birth rates are caused by the country's high economic inequality; including the high cost of living, low wages for an OECD member country, lack of job opportunities, as well as rising housing unaffordability.^[6]

Aging is a significant issue in South Korea. According to the World and Korea Population Forecast released by the National Statistical Office, South Korea's population aged 65 or older will reach 37.0 percent in 2045, surpassing Japan's 36.7 percent, and thereby becoming the world's most aged population. The report is based on a comparative analysis of the UN's World Population Outlook for 201 countries and the National Statistical Office's special estimate of the future population between 1967 and 2017.

South Korea's portion of the elderly population is projected to grow at the fastest pace in the world from 14.9 percent in 2019 to 46.5 percent in 2067.^[7] Consequently, this will lead to South Korea's population declining sharply within the next few decades to just about 25–30 million, down from 51 million as of 2022. In 2020, South Korea began to record more deaths than births, resulting in a population decline for the first time.^[8]