Korea to become world’s second most aged country in 2060

Korea’s population with 51 million will decline to 44 million in 2060, and the country will become the second most aged country in the world, a new forecast suggests.

According to the “current situations and outlooks of the populations" released on Wednesday by Statistics Korea, the nation’s population will increase from 51 million in 2015 to 52 million in 2030, before starting to decline to hit 44 million in 2060. Korea’s population ranks 27th in the world as of this year, but will fall to 31st in 2030, and 49th in 2060. Amid a falling fertility rate, the population growth rate will decline from 0.5 percent over the 2010–2015 period to – 0.1 percent over the 2030–2035 period.

Amid this trend, the ratio of population aged 65 or older of the total population will increase from 13.1 percent in 2015 to 40.1 percent in 2060. This means that two in five Koreans will be elderly people aged 65 or older in 2060.

In contrast, the economically active population of ages between 15 and 64 peaked at 73.1 percent in 2012, and started to decline at a fast pace to drop to 49.7 percent in 2060. While demand for social welfare will gradually increase, the population capable of engaging in economic activities will thus fall to less than half of the total population.

Statistics Korea predicts that if the two Koreas unify, the trends of falling population and aging population will slow down a bit.

The combined population of the two Koreas will increase from 76 million this year to 79 million in 2030. The portion of aged population in the two Koreas will come to 20.2 percent in 2030, which will be 4.1 percentage points lower than the portion of aged population in South Korea alone (24.3 percent).