Households engaging in the farming business totaled 1.04 million last year, down 2.5 percent from 1.07 million tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea. (Image: Yonhap)
SEJONG, April 20 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of South Koreans in the agrofisheries sector is continuing to decrease amid a rapid aging and urbanization trend in the country, government data showed Friday.
Households engaging in the farming business totaled 1.04 million last year, down 2.5 percent from 1.07 million tallied a year ago, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
The number of farmers also dropped 3 percent on-year to 2.42 million.
In the fishing sector, the number of families fell 0.4 percent on-year to 53,000 last year, with the population retreating 3.1 percent to 122,000.
The families involved in the agriculture sector accounted for 5.3 percent of the country’s total households in 2017, down from the previous year’s 5.5 percent.
The statistics office attributed the drop mainly to the rapid aging of the population, with the younger generation moving to urban areas.
The average age of the head of farming families reached 67 last year, up from 66.3 in 2016.
Those aged 70 or over accounted for 41.9 percent of the farming community, the data showed.
(Yonhap)
