By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
South Korea is projected to become the country with one of the highest percentages of elderly people in the world by 2050, as Koreans are having fewer babies and living longer than their counterparts in other nations. Also, the population is forecast to decline to 42 million by 2050 from the current 48 million.
According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) Tuesday, the average number of babies that a Korean woman aged between 15 and 49 gives birth to during her life time, stood at 1.13 last year, lower than other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) economies. The U.S. birthrate came to 2.05, followed by 1.8 in Britain and 1.32 in Japan.
Korea's birthrate is expected to continue to head downward as a growing number of women are opting to have fewer babies amid rising costs of childcare and education.
Koreans' life expectancy is projected to average 79.1 from 2005 to 2010, substantially higher than the world's average of 67.2, the statistical office said. Japan will top the list with its citizens living for 82.6 years on average during the same period, followed by Hong Kong with 82.2 and Iceland with 81.8.
Amid the rapid population aging and falling birthrates, the elderly over 65 will account for 38.2 percent of the country's population in 2050, higher than the world average of 16.2 percent. The portion of people aged below 14 will decrease to 8.9 percent from 19.2 percent in 2005, according to the statistical office.
Koreans aged over 80 accounted for 1.4 percent of the population in 2005, compared with the global average of 1.3 percent, but the ratio is expected to increase to 14.5 percent in 2050, higher than average 9.4 percent in developed countries.
``Korea's birthrates currently rank at the bottom among OECD economies, but its average life expectancy has increased thanks to improved diet and medical services. If the trend continues, it will likely become the most aged country in the world by 2050,'' an NSO official said.
Korea currently ranks 25th in population size in the world, accounting for 0.7 percent of the global population of 6.67 billion. But its rank is expected to drop to 44th in 2050 as the number of South Koreans will decrease to 42 million.
In 2005, South Korea was the third most crowded country in the world, after Bangladesh and Taiwan, as an average of 483 Koreans lived per square kilometer. Bangladesh toped the list with 1,604 people per square kilometer, followed by Taiwan where average 629 people resided per square meter.