Think tank predicts Korea's population to shrink to 7.5 million in 100 years
Korea’s population could decline to just 7.53 million — about 15 percent of its current size — over the next century, according to a new think tank report. Published Wednesday by the Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future, the report shows that even under its most optimistic scenario, Korea’s population is projected to decline from 51.68 million today to 15.73 million by 2125 — less than one-third of its current size. The institute’s projections use the internationally recognized cohort-component method to estimate future population changes by analyzing the three main components of population dynamics ― fertility, mortality and migration. The report underscores the exceptionally rapid pace of Korea’s demographic decline. The scenario assumes Korea’s total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman is expected to have ― will follow Statistics Korea’s official forecast until 2072. After that, it is held constant at three possible levels: 0.82 (low), 1.08 (medium) and 1.34 (high). Last year, the nation’s total fertility rate was just 0.75, t
