Over 20% of Population Aged 65 and Older... South Korea Enters 'Super-Aged Society'

Population Aged 65 and Over Surpasses '10 Million'
Exceeded 10% in 2008, Reached 15% in 2019
"Response Needed Through Establishment of Dedicated Population Ministry"

South Korea has entered a super-aged society as the proportion of residents aged 65 and over among the registered population exceeded 20%. The United Nations (UN) classifies societies with 7% or more of the population aged 65 and over as aging societies, 14% or more as aged societies, and 20% or more as super-aged societies.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 24th, as of the previous day, the registered population aged 65 and over was 10,244,550, accounting for 20.00% of the total registered population (51,221,286).

The proportion of those aged 65 and over in the domestic registered population has steadily increased from 10.02% in 2008, 11.01% in 2011, 12.03% in 2013, 13.02% in 2015, to 14.02% in 2017. It surpassed 15% for the first time in 2019, rose to 19.05% in January this year, and then entered the 20% range on the 23rd, the previous day.

In particular, the population aged 65 and over more than doubled in 16 years, from 4,940,573 in 2008 to over 10 million as of the previous day. By gender, the proportion of registered residents aged 65 and over was 17.83% for men and 22.15% for women, with women’s proportion 4.32 percentage points higher than men’s.

By region, the metropolitan area accounted for 17.70% of the total registered population (about 26.04 million), while the non-metropolitan area accounted for 22.38% of the total registered population (about 25.17 million), with the non-metropolitan area 4.68 percentage points higher than the metropolitan area. The region with the highest proportion of registered residents aged 65 and over was Jeonnam (27.18%). It was followed by Gyeongbuk (26.00%), Gangwon (25.33%), Jeonbuk (25.23%), Busan (23.87%), and Chungnam (22.23%). Seoul ranked 10th among the 17 metropolitan cities and provinces with 19.41%. The region with the lowest proportion was Sejong (11.57%).

Kim Minjae, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, emphasized, "Since the proportion of the population aged 65 and over has exceeded 20%, it is urgent to establish a dedicated population ministry to prepare fundamental and systematic measures."