The number of senior households in South Korea has surpassed 5 million for the first time in 2021, nearly tripling from more than two decades ago, posing demographic challenges to Asia’s fourth-largest economy from its low birthrate and aging society.

According to a “2022 Social Indicators in Korea” report released by Statistics Korea on Thursday, the number of households with the householder aged 65 years and over reached 5,016,000 in 2021, up 280,000 from a year ago. In 2000, the number of senior households was 1,734,000.

Senior households also accounted for 22.8 percent of the entire households in Korea in 2021, up from 12.1 percent in 2000. The report showed that one out of every three senior households lived alone (36.4 percent), 36.2 percent lived with their spouse or siblings, and 23 percent with their children. It is the first time that the number of senior households that live alone outpaced that of those that live with family members of the same generation.

Korea has also been seeing a sharp increase in the elderly population.

The senior population reached 9.02 million in 2022, up by 450,000 from a year ago. The population accounted for 17.5 percent of the entire population, up 0.9 percentage point from a year ago.

Korea’s entire population last year was 51.63 million, declining for two straight years after 51.84 million in 2020.

The rise in the number of elderly population in Korea comes as people live longer but the childbirth rate keeps on declining.

Koreans’ life expectancy was 83.6 years in 2021, three years up from 10 years ago. In 2020, Korean life expectancy was at 83.5 years, the second highest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries.

Korea’s birth rate, in the meantime, has fallen to an unprecedentedly low rate.

The total fertility rate was 0.78 in 2022, the lowest-ever since Statistics Korea began compiling related data.

The median age of the Korean population climbed to an all-time high of 45 years old last year, up from 21.8 years old in 1980. Statistics Korea projected that the median age will reach 62.2 years old in 2070 if the current trend continues.

By Hong Hae-jin and Chang Iou-chung

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