Korea’s population inches upward, aging intensifies

Korea’s population aged last year as people tended to delay marriage while married couples had fewer babies, signaling a continued change in the demographic landscape here, data showed yesterday.

According to the data provided by Statistics Korea, Korea’s population totaled 48.7 million at the end of last year, up 0.29 per cent from a year earlier. Of the total, those aged 65 or older ac counted for a record 10.7 percent.

The figure puts Korea squarely into the category of an aging society where 7-14 percent of the population is aged 65 or older. Korea became an aging sod et in 2000 and is now rapidly moving toward becoming an aged country where the ratio exceeds 14 percent.

Challenges posed by the country’s aging population have drawn keen attention in recent years, as fears mount that the demographic shift could dent overall productivity and growth potential down the road due to a declining workforce and an increase in welfare and medical costs.
The statistics agency’s report, which compiled data ranging from total population to education spending and the number of mobile phone users, provides a glimpse into the current state of Korea’s social landscape.

According to the report, households in Korea totaled 16.91 million at the end of last year, up 1.5 percent from a year earlier. Of them, one-member households accounted for 20.2 percent, showing that a growing number of people are either delaying marriage or choosing to remain single.

Despite the declining birth rate and decreased marriages, parents in Korea continued to expand their spending on education for their children, the report showed.
Annual household education. spending amounted to an aver age 3.49 million won ($3,056) last year, accounting for a record high 13.5 percent of total expenditure, according to the report.

Another sign of the ongoing demographic change here was the rise in the number of registered foreigners, which stood at 871,0.00 last year, marking a 17.4-fold increase over the past two decades.

The ratio of foreigners to the total population was 1.8 percent.

Meanwhile, users of traditional fixed-line household telephones totaled around 20 million, down 9.2 percent from a year earlier, as more people shifted toward mobile phone services which commanded about 48 million subscribers of the end of last year, the report showed. (Yonhap News)

The Korea Herald on Mar. 5, 2010