Seoul, Dec 24 (IANS) South Korea has officially turned into a ‘super-aged’ society. 20 percent of the country’s population is 65 years of age or older.
The Interior Ministry said the country is facing a demographic crisis of rapidly aging population and low birth rate.
As of Monday, the number of South Koreans aged 65 or older stood at 10.24 million, accounting for 20.0 percent of the country’s total population of 51.22 million, Yonhap news agency reported.
The United Nations classifies countries as aging societies where more than 7 percent of the population is 65 years of age or older. Countries where more than 14 percent of the population is aged 65 years or more are classified as aged societies.
At the same time, countries where more than 20 percent of the population is aged 65 years or more are classified as super-aged society.
This age group in South Korea has gradually increased over the years. It was 4.94 million in 2008.
It was 10 percent of the population in 2008, which increased to more than 15 percent in 2019 and reached 19.05 percent in January this year.
As of Monday, the number of women in the age group stood at 5.69 million, while the number of men stood at 4.54 million.
The population of this age group in South Jeolla Province was 27.18 percent. This was the highest in major areas of the country.
In the central city of Sejong, the share of this age group was the lowest at 11.57 percent.
The population of this age group in Seoul was 19.41 percent.
“There is an urgent need for radical and systematic response measures by setting up a population-centric ministry,” ministry officials said in a release.
South Korea has unveiled plans to launch a new ministry of population strategy to address its demographic crisis.
-IANS
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