Working age population to drop by 19% over two decades
By Kim Se-jeong
Korea’s working age population (between 15 and 60 years old) is expected to decline by 18.9 percent by 2037, much faster than anticipated and much higher than the OECD average, a survey showed Tuesday.
According to the Health and Welfare Policy Forum report published by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, the biggest decline will be seen among those aged between 20 and 29 at 33.5 percent. During the same period, OECD countries will see a 3.3 percent decrease.
The report showed drastic declines will be seen in all age groups: 11.5 percent among those younger than 15, 25.5 percent for those between 15 and 19 years old, 29 percent between 30 and 39, 18.8 percent between 40 and 49 and 11.9 percent between 50 and 59.
In contrast, the population aged between 60 and 64 is expected to increase 23.5 percent during the same period.
A decline in the working age population is being seen globally, but not as drastically as in Korea.
Among OECD member states, the population decline is projected for people aged between 15 and those in their 30s. The population of people in their 40s and 50s is expected to rise by 0.5 percent and 1.4 percent, respectively.
“What’s more notable with the new figures is that the number of people younger than 40 is going to shrink drastically,” said Prof. Oh Min-hong who teaches economics at Dong-A University in Busan.
“Its impact on Korea’s labor market will be huge. Unlike OECD countries where the declining rates are small enough to be complemented by other age groups, Korea’s decline will happen in all age groups and so fast that there’s no group to back up the loss.”
Prof. Oh also warned that aging will take its toll on society sooner rather than later. “The bad news is that it’s hard to get a social consensus on the cause of the problem.” He added the government should focus on encouraging the labor market to use skilled older people.
The working age population in Korea marked its peak in 2016 with 37.6 million. With the growing number of older people, the ratio of working-aged people supporting each of them rises faster.