Number of aged in South Korea surges massively: report

SEOUL, Dec. 14 (Yonhap) -- The number of elderly people in South Korea has surged
over the past decades, a report showed Monday, suggesting that the nation is fast
moving toward becoming an aged society.
According to the report by the Statistics Korea, the number of people aged 75 or
older totaled 1.89 million this year compared with the 110,000 recorded in 1960.
This marked a 17-fold increase over the cited period.
The age group accounted for 3.9 percent of the nation's total population, up from
a mere 0.4 percent around five decades ago, the report showed.
The report comes as the nation is quickly becoming an aged society, in which more
than 14 percent of the population is 65 or older. The nation became an aging
society in 2000, when the ratio exceeded 7 percent.
The challenges posed by an aging population have drawn keen attention in recent
years, as the demographic shift is feared to dent overall productivity and growth
potential down the road due to a declining workforce and an increase in welfare
and medical costs.
A record-low birth rate is the key causal factor behind the transition to an aged
society.
According to the report, South Korea's birth rate is among the world's lowest.
The combined number of babies born by a woman during the age of 15-49 stood at
1.19 last year, down from 6 over the cited period, the report showed.
This is among the lowest in the member countries of the Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development along with Japan, the United States and France with
1.37 and 2.12 and 1.99, respectively, it added.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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