Republic of Korea (the)
Section I: Demographic indicators
1. Key population indicators, 20241
| Indicators | Value |
|---|---|
| Population age 60+ (thousands) | 14,199 |
| Population aged 60+ (% of total population) | 27.4 |
| Percentage of women out of the population aged 60+ | 54.6 |
| Percentage of women out of the population aged 80+ | 66.1 |
| Life expectancy at birth (years) | 84.3 |
| Median age (years) | 42.8 |
| Total fertility rate (2024) | 0.9 |
2. Population by age group, selected years1
Thousands
| Age | 1950 | 1990 | 2020 | 2024 | 2030 | 2050 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-14 | 8,630 | 11,438 | 6,308 | 5,658 | 4,753 | 3,755 |
| 15-64 | 10,923 | 30,522 | 37,331 | 36,092 | 33,726 | 23,984 |
| 60+ | 1,018 | 3,312 | 12,027 | 14,199 | 17,031 | 21,243 |
| 65+ | 552 | 2,161 | 8,207 | 9,992 | 12,811 | 18,031 |
| 80+ | 69 | 289 | 1,968 | 2,468 | 3,096 | 7,297 |
| Total | 20,104 | 44,120 | 51,845 | 51,742 | 51,290 | 45,771 |
Percentage
| Age | 1950 | 1990 | 2020 | 2024 | 2030 | 2050 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0-14 | 42.9 | 25.9 | 12.2 | 10.9 | 9.3 | 8.2 |
| 15-64 | 54.3 | 69.2 | 72.0 | 69.8 | 65.8 | 52.4 |
| 60+ | 5.1 | 7.5 | 23.2 | 27.4 | 33.2 | 46.4 |
| 65+ | 2.7 | 4.9 | 15.8 | 19.3 | 25.0 | 39.4 |
| 80+ | 0.3 | 0.7 | 3.8 | 4.8 | 6.0 | 15.9 |
3. Percentage of total population by age group and sex, selected years1
1990
2020
2030
2050
4. Percentage of male and female population by age, 20241
5. Proportion of the total population by broad age group, 1950-20501
6. Proportion of population aged 80 years or over as percentage of population aged 65 years or over, 1950-20501
7. Median age of the total population, 1950-20501
8. Life expectancy at birth, male and female, 1950-20501
9. Potential old-age support ratio (ages 20-64/age 65+), 1950-20501
10. Speed of ageing (Number of years required or expected for percentage of population aged 65 and over to rise from 7 per cent to 14 per cent)1,2
11. Life expectancy at birth (both sexes), and total fertility rate, 1990-20501
Section II: Employment and social protection
12. Labour force participation rate of people aged 65 years or over, percentage, latest available year3
38.6
49.1
30.4
13. Percentage of older persons covered by social protection systems including floors (SDG 1.3.1), 2020 or latest available year4
14. Legal coverage of contributory mandatory pensions, total, female, male (percentage of working-age population), 2020 or latest available year4
60.4
50.8
69.9
15. Informal employment rate of 65+ (percentage of informal employment out of total employment in that age group), 20193
79.6
75.7
85
Section III: Health
16. Life expectancy (LE) versus healthy life expectancy (HALE) at age 60, both sexes, most recent years5
17. Life expectancy (LE) versus healthy life expectancy (HALE) at age 60, male and female, most recent years5
18. Out-of-pocket health expenditure as percentage of current health expenditure (CHE), latest available years5
19. Suicide rate, per 100,000 population, by sex and age group, latest available year 20195
20. Dementia physician density, per 1,000 population, latest available year5
5.8 persons
21. Total expenditure on social protection (excluding health), percentage, 2020 or latest available year4
6.3
Section IV: Living arrangements
22. Household living arrangements of people aged 65 years or over, latest available years6
23. Literacy rate of older persons age 65 years or over, percentage, latest available year 20087
(of 65+ total population) 88.3
(of 65+ male population) 89.3
(of 65+ female population) 87.3
24. Internet users, as a percentage of their age group, latest available years8
Source: ESCAP 2022. Ageing in Asia and the Pacific: key facts, available at: https://www.population-trends-asiapacific.org/data
Footnote
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). World Population Prospects 2022, Online Edition.
- Kinsella, Kevin and Wan He (2009). “An Aging World: 2008”. International Population Reports, Issued June 2009: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and U.S. Department of Commerce. Available at https://www.census.gov/prod/2009pubs/p95-09-1.pdf
- International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT Data. Available at https://ilostat.ilo.org/data/ (accessed on 3 March 2023).
- World Social Protection Data Dashboards. Available at https://www.social-protection.org (accessed on 3 March 2023).
- World Health Organization, Global Health Observatory data repository. Available at https://www.who.int/data/gho (accessed on 3 March 2023).
- United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2022). Database on the Households and Living Arrangements of Older Persons 2022. Available at https://www.un.org/development/desa/pd/data/living-arrangements-older-persons (accessed on 3 March 2023).
- World Bank, Databank. Available at https://databank.worldbank.org/ (accessed on 3 March 2023).
- ITU (2022). ITU, Digital Development Dashboard. Available at https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Dashboards/Pages/Digital-Development.aspx (accessed on 20 Februry 2023).
