"One Child Is Enough"... Four-Person Households Surpassed by Three-Person Households for the First Time

Single-person households exceed 10 million... Four-person households at lowest
Population declined but birth registrations increased for the first time in 9 years

The proportion of four-person families, which were a typical family structure, has gradually decreased, and for the first time, three-person households have surpassed four-person households. This is a result of the recent spread of the perception that having only one child is sufficient. Accordingly, households with four or more members have become the least common household type.

According to the analysis of the 2024 resident registration population statistics by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the total number of registered households was 24,118,928, an increase of 204,077 households (0.85%) compared to 2023 (23,914,851 households). The average number of household members was 2.12, a decrease of 0.03 from the previous year. By household size, one-person households (approximately 10.12 million households, 41.97%) were the most common, followed by two-person households (6 million, 24.90%). Next were three-person households (4.05 million, 16.8%) and households with four or more members (3.94 million, 16.33%).

Last year, the number of male births (123,923) exceeded female births (118,411) by 5,512. On the other hand, the registered population was 51,217,221, decreasing for five consecutive years since 2020. The male population has decreased for six consecutive years, and the female population for four consecutive years. The female population (25,718,897) was 220,573 more than the male population (25,498,324), widening the gap between female and male populations since 2015. In 2015, the female population was 12,966 more than the male population.

The average age of the registered population was 45.3 years, an increase of 0.5 years compared to 2023 (44.8 years). Looking at the proportion of the registered population by age group, the population in their 60s surpassed those in their 40s, and those aged 70 and over surpassed those in their 30s. The largest group was people in their 50s with 8,706,370 (17%), followed by those in their 60s (15.27%), 40s (15.08%), 70 and over (12.94%), 30s (12.93%), 20s (11.63%), teens (9.02%), and under 10 (6.13%). The youth population aged 0-14 was 5,464,421, the working-age population aged 15-64 was 35,496,018, and the elderly population aged 65 and over was 10,256,782.

The population gap between the metropolitan area and non-metropolitan areas has widened further. The population residing in the metropolitan area was 26,047,523 (50.86%), while the non-metropolitan population was 25,169,698 (49.14%). Compared to 2023, the metropolitan area increased by 33,258 (0.13%), but the non-metropolitan area decreased by 141,366 (0.56%). As a result, the population gap between the two regions widened to 877,825.

Kim Min-jae, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “Although the population has decreased for five consecutive years, the number of registered births increased for the first time in nine years, showing signs of positive change,” and added, “To continue the trend of reversing the number of births, related ministries need to collaborate to improve the childcare environment and prepare multifaceted support measures.”