South Korea becomes "super-aged" society, one in five now aged 65 or older

South Korea has now officially entered the category of a "super-aged" society, with individuals aged 65 and older making up one-fifth of its population, as per a government data released on Tuesday, according to a report by CNN.

The South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety reported that 10.24 million people in the country are now aged 65 or above, representing 20 per cent of South Korea's total population of 51 million.

The data also revealed that women in this age group comprise around 22 per cent of the female population, while men aged 65 and older account for nearly 18 per cent of the male population

 

The age group accounted for 27.18 percent of the population in South Jeolla Province -- the highest among the country's major regions. The central city of Sejong had the lowest share at 11.57 percent. The age group accounted for 19.41 percent of the total population in Seoul, according to Yonhap News Agency.

The age group in South Korea has gradually increased over the years. In 2008, the age group comprised 4.94 million individuals and accounted for 10 percent of the population. It reached 19.05 per cent in January this year before surpassing 15 per cent in 2019.

The United Nations classifies countries with more than 7 per cent of the population 65 or older as an "aging society," those with over 14 per cent as an "aged society" and those with more than 20 per cent as a "super-aged" society.

According to the UN, the proportion of people aged 65 years and above is increasing at a faster rate than those below that age. This means that the percentage of the global population aged 65 and above is expected to rise from 10 per cent in 2022 to 16 per cent in 2050.

It is projected that by 2050, the number of individuals aged 65 years or above across the world will be twice the number of children under age 5 and almost equivalent to the number of children under 12 years.

The World Health Organisation estimates that by 2030, 1 in 6 people in the world will be aged 60 years or over. By 2050, the world's population of people aged 60 years and older will double (2.1 billion). The number of persons aged 80 years or older is expected to triple between 2020 and 2050 to reach 426 million.