SEOUL: South Korea has become a” super-aged society”, with 20 per cent of its population aged 65 or older, official data showed on Tuesday ( Dec 24 ), a gloomy trend driven by an alarmingly low birth rate.
Late last month, Asia’s fourth-largest market recorded only 0.7 % of women’s birth, which is among the lowest birth rates in the world and significantly below the replacement rate of 2 / 2.1 needed to support the people at this time.
That means South Korea’s community is ageing and shrinking rapidly.
Those aged 65 and older “account for 20 per cent of the 51.2 million listed people, numbering 10 million”, the interior ministry said in a news release on Tuesday, placing South Korea alongside Japan, Germany and France as a” super-aged world”.
Additionally, it means that, according to the government, the older population has more than doubled since 2008, when there were only fewer than five million.
People accounts for 44 per cent of the latest 65-and-older party, the data showed.
In a recent work, Seoul authorities offered subsidies for egg freezing, which the government has spent billions of dollars on encouraging more birth.
But, these efforts have failed to produce the desired outcomes, and by 2067, the population is projected to have reached a median age of 62, making this number unlikely to decline.
Low marriage and birth rates are attributed to a number of factors, including higher child-rearing expenses and rising house prices, as well as a extremely competitive society that makes it challenging to get well-paid jobs.
Another significant issue are working parents, who take on the bulk of their household chores and care while keeping their careers, claim.