S.Korea's elderly population to exceed 10 million in 2024

The number of people in South Korea aged 65 or over next year is expected to break 10 million, with the country to enter an era in which 20% of the population is a senior citizen.

Statistics Korea on Monday released data forecasting the population of people aged 65 or older at 10,008,326 next year, up 5.4% from 9,499,933 this year. Last year, the elderly population broke nine million for the first time in history with 9,018,412 and is seen to hit the 10 million milestone two years later.

The population of those aged 14 or younger, however, will shrink from 6,143,634 in 2021 to 5,686,017 this year and 5,462,580 next year. The working-age population of ages 15-64 will fall by over a million from 37,029,895 in 2021 to 36,029,123 next year. The national population is seen to dip from 51,744,876 in 2021 to 51,447,504 in 2025, but only the elderly demographic will see growth.

The era of a super-aged society is also looming in the country. An aged society is classified as one in which the population of those aged 65 or above is 14% or over and a super-aged society as that with 20% or more.

Statistics Korea said the elderly will account for 20.6% of the national population in 2025, up from 18.4% this year, with the super-aged society to begin the year after the number of elderly people exceeds 10 million.

Write to Jin-gyu Kang at josep@hankyung.com