By Kang Seung-woo
Elderly people over 65 years account for 11 percent of the total population, as the nation is rapidly becoming an aged society, a government report said Wednesday.
Statistics Korea announced that the number of people aged 65 or older reached 5.35 million as of July 1, when the total population stood at 48.87 million people.
The proportion of the elderly has been steady, as it tallied 3.8 percent in 1980, 5.1 percent in 1990 and 7.2 percent in 2000.
Korea, which is currently considered an aging society since the ratio went beyond 7 percent in 2000, is expected to become an aged society in 2018 and a super aged society by 2026, when the proportion is likely to reach 14.3 percent and 20.8 percent, respectively.
An aged society is where senior citizens 65 years or older account for more than 14 percent of the population and a super-aged society is defined as country where the population ratio older than 65 people exceeds 20 percent. A rapidly aging population can exert a negative influence on economic growth and raises concerns about how to cope with increasing health care and welfare expenses.
“At the current pace, Korea which was classified as an ‘aging society’ in 2000 with more than 7 percent of the population exceeding 65 years of age, will officially become an ‘aged society’ in the next eight years,” the statistical office said.
Meanwhile, the agency said that with the number of seniors growing fast, the proportion of single senior aged over 65 households is forecast to be one out of every 10 in 20 years.
Despite the increasing number, they turn out to be more and more ill-prepared to cope with the cost of living.
Seventy-five percent of them are not ready to make a living and reliance on their sons and daughters was the sole way to survive. The report showed 40.3 percent of elderly people were concerned about their health, with 5.7 percent complaining about a lack of jobs.
Meanwhile, it also showed that the first cause of death was cancer among senior citizens.