Joo Hyung-hwan, vice chairman of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, speaks during a meeting in Seoul, in this Dec. 3, 2024, file photo. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — A presidential committee on aging society and population said Friday the government will come up with a demographic policy blueprint in the near future, as South Korea has formally become a “super-aged” society.
The remark came after the government data showed the number of South Koreans aged 65 or older stood at 10.24 million, accounting for 20 percent of the country’s total population of 51.22 million.
The United Nations classifies countries where more than 7 percent of the population is 65 or older as an aging society, those with over 14 percent as an aged society and those with more than 20 percent as a super-aged society.
“Considering the unprecedented and faster-than-expected pace of aging, we do not have much time,” said Joo Hyung-hwan, vice chairman of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy.
Joo added the government will promptly come up with actions so that the country “does not miss the timing.”
The vice chairman said it was noteworthy that the country has been showing signs of a recovery in its critically low birth rate.
The number of babies born in South Korea increased at the fastest rate in 14 years in October.
A total of 21,398 babies were born in October, up 13.4 percent from the 18,878 newborns a year earlier. It marked the largest on-year increase since November 2010, when the number of childbirths grew by 17.5 percent.
“The total fertility rate for this year is expected to reach 0.74, far above the previous estimate of 0.68,” Joo said, noting such figures are a “hopeful signal” for the country’s demographic challenges.
(Yonhap)
