Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
No. of households surpasses 20 million
By Lee Hyo-sik
The number of households here has exceeded 20 million for the first time in history as more Koreans live alone.
Many young adults are delaying marriage and choosing to live alone due to financial pressure among other reasons and more single women are living on their own amid a rising divorce rate. Additionally, a growing number of senior citizens making up single-member households amid the rapidly aging population have pushed up the figure.
The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Sunday that the number of households surpassed 20 million for the first time in November at 20.02 million, up 5.4 percent, or 1.03 million, from 2008. Korea’s average household had 2.53 members, down from 2.61 three years ago.
Over the three-year period, the nation’s total population rose 2.4 percent, or 1.2 million won, to 50.7 million.
“Over the years, the number of households has increased at a fast pace in line with surging single-member households among senior citizens and young people,” a ministry official said. “We expect the figure to continue to head upward in the coming years as a result of rapid population aging. Also, the growing preference among young Koreans to live alone will further boost the number.”
In 2010, one-member households reached 4.14 million, accounting for 23.9 percent of the nation’s total households, up from 20 percent in 2005.
By gender, there were 25.39 million men and 25.31 million women in the country as of November. Over the past three years, the female population grew by more than 610,000, while the male population increased by 590,000.
Seoul saw its population increase by 58,000 to 10.26 million from 2008, with the number of households standing at 4.19 million. The average number of people per family in the capital city was 2.44, lower than the nationwide average of 2.53.
The ministry also said the number of Koreans aged over 60 totaled 8 million across the country, up by more than 900,000 from 2008. Of the 8 million, those aged over 100 reached 11,600, while 90-somethings stood at 117,800.
In contrast, the number of people aged under 30 fell by 1.28 million to 26.37 million over the three-year period as Koreans are having fewer babies.