Relative Poverty Rate Among Elderly Koreans Nears 40%,
Highest Among OECD Countries
Gender Equality and Youth Nutrition Still Need Improvement
Math and Reading Proficiency Remain at Pre-Pandemic Levels
The relative poverty rate among elderly Koreans is close to 40%, the highest level among OECD countries. The relative poverty rate is the ratio of the population with income below half of the median income to the total population.
On the 24th, the Statistics Korea National Statistical Research Institute published a report titled "Status of Korea's SDG (Sustainable Development Goals) Implementation 2025" containing this information. According to the report, the relative poverty rate based on disposable income was 14.9% in 2023, having declined from 18.5% in 2011 to 14.8% in 2021, then slightly increased to 14.9% in 2022 and remained stagnant thereafter.
By age group, the retired population aged 66 and over showed the highest relative poverty rate at 39.8%. This is the highest level among OECD countries as of 2022. The gender equality indicator also showed a need for improvement. As of 2024, the proportion of female members of the National Assembly was 20.0%, a slight increase from 18.0% in 2012 but a 1.3 percentage point decrease from 21.3% in 2020. This ranks fourth lowest among the 38 OECD countries and falls far short of the average (34.1%).
Youth nutritional status was inadequate, and math proficiency was similar to pre-pandemic levels. In 2023, the proportion of those with insufficient nutritional intake was 17.9%, an increase of 7.3 percentage points from 10.6% in 2011. Among adolescents aged 12 to 18, the rate of insufficient nutritional intake was particularly high at 27.5%. In 2022, the proportion of 15-year-old youths achieving at least the minimum proficiency level in reading and math was 85.3% and 83.8%, respectively. These figures are higher than the OECD averages (reading 73.7%, math 68.9%) and similar to levels before the COVID-19 pandemic.
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