[News Terms] South Korea, 1 in 5 People Are Elderly... Entering a 'Super-Aged Society'

South Korea is aging rapidly. On the 23rd, the registered population aged 65 and over reached 10,244,550, accounting for 20.0% of the total population, marking the entry into a "super-aged society." The United Nations (UN) classifies societies as aging if the population aged 65 and over accounts for more than 7% of the total population, aged society if over 14%, and super-aged society if over 20%.

On the 6th, an elderly person is engaged in a craft activity at the Gireum Daycare Center in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul. The daycare center, commonly called "Nochwon" (a combination of "No-in" meaning elderly and "Yuchiwon" meaning kindergarten), is a facility that cares for the elderly who are not yet in need of nursing home care but have difficulty managing daily life alone due to early-stage dementia or other age-related illnesses (long-term care grades 1 to 5). Photo by Kang Jin-hyung

The noteworthy point is the speed. Countries that joined the ranks of super-aged societies before Korea took decades to transition from an aged society to a super-aged society, allowing them time to prepare for the super-aged society during this period.

For example, Italy took 19 years, France 29 years, and the United Kingdom 50 years. Even Japan, which entered a super-aged society first in the world in 2005 and is known for rapid aging, took 10 years to move from an aged society to a super-aged society.

However, in Korea, the proportion of the registered population aged 65 and over rose from 3% in 1970 to over 10% in 2008, and reached 14.02% in 2017, becoming an "aged society." It took only 7 years after that to become a "super-aged society." If the trend of low birthrate and aging does not reverse, it is expected that by 2036, the elderly population will exceed 30%.

In a super-aged society where one in five registered residents is elderly, various elderly-related issues arise. Especially since the preparation period for a super-aged society is short, there are calls for urgent government-wide measures. Challenges to be addressed include productivity decline due to reduced labor supply, depletion of the national pension, social conflicts over retirement age extension discussions, and increased burdens on healthcare and caregiving.

Under the current system, the national pension is projected to run a deficit by 2041, and the reserve fund will be completely depleted by 2055. Welfare expenditures related to the elderly place a burden on public finances. In the case of dementia, which occurs alongside super-aging, the annual management cost per patient was 21.12 million KRW in 2021. This amount accounts for 49.5% of the average annual household income in the same year. Households with dementia patients spend half of their income on patient care. The national annual dementia management cost in that year was 18.7 trillion KRW, equivalent to 0.9% of the gross domestic product. Japan, which is ahead of Korea in super-aging, estimates that by 2060, 34.3% of the elderly aged 65 and over will be classified as dementia patients, with social costs estimated at 214 trillion KRW. Considering Japan’s population is just over twice that of Korea, this gives an indication of the future burden Korea may face.

The issue of productivity decline due to aging is fueling discussions about the "upper age limit for the elderly." This is because social perceptions have changed with increased life expectancy, and many now consider 65 to be a prime working age. In the 2023 Elderly Survey, the age at which elderly people themselves consider someone to be elderly was 71.6 years.