Elderly participants wearing graduation caps pose for a commemorative photo at the 29th graduation ceremony of a senior citizens’ college, held on Dec. 29 last month at the Dongan Senior Welfare Center in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s demographic shift toward an aging and increasingly solitary population accelerated in 2025, with people aged 65 and older now accounting for more than one-fifth of the country’s registered residents, government data showed, underscoring mounting social and economic challenges for the nation.
According to an annual population analysis released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the number of residents aged 65 or older reached 10.84 million last year, up nearly 6 percent from a year earlier.
Seniors now represent 21.21 percent of South Korea’s total population of 51.1 million, confirming the country’s transition into a “super-aged” society, a designation used by the United Nations when at least 20 percent of the population is over 65.
The aging trend is particularly pronounced outside the capital region. While seniors made up 18.82 percent of the population in the Seoul metropolitan area, the figure rose to 23.69 percent in non-metropolitan regions.
Eleven provinces and major cities, including South Jeolla, North Gyeongsang, Gangwon and Busan, recorded elderly population shares above 20 percent, with Seoul and Jeju crossing that threshold for the first time in 2025. In some rural counties, nearly half of all residents are now over 65.
Although South Korea’s transition into a super-aged society is accelerating, welfare issues among the elderly are emerging as a major social concern, with four out of every ten seniors falling into poverty. (Yonhap)
The data also highlight a parallel rise in single-person households, driven largely by older adults living alone. One-person households totaled 10.27 million last year, accounting for 42.27 percent of all registered households, the largest share on record.
Among them, people aged 70 and older formed the biggest group, representing more than one-fifth of single-person households.
Women continue to outnumber men in the senior population, particularly among the oldest age groups and elderly individuals living alone. By contrast, men dominate single-person households in their working-age years, reflecting differing life expectancy and household patterns.
With the average household size falling to just 2.10 people, policymakers face growing pressure to adapt welfare systems, housing policy and healthcare services to an older, more fragmented society.
The figures underscore concerns that rapid demographic change, once projected for the future, has now become an immediate and defining feature of South Korea’s social landscape.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
