Centenarians nearly double over 5 years

By Kim Tong-hyung

The number of Koreans reaching the age of 100 has nearly doubled in the past five years to more than 1,800, the government announced Tuesday.

The figures confirm Korea’s status as one of the fastest aging countries in the world and highlight the country’s quandary over improving healthcare and increasing pension problems.

According to data from Statistics Korea, a total of 1,836 living Koreans celebrated their 100th birthday at the end of November last year, up more than 91 percent from the 961 tallied in 2005. The numbers are based on a national census the statistics office conducts every five years.

Women dramatically outnumbered men among those over 100, accounting for more than 1,500 in the group. The government refused to reveal the oldest resident in the country.

Healthy diets and improved medical care are among the factors believed to be supporting the expanding silver generation in Korea, where more than 11 percent of the total population of 49 million is aged 65 or older. Korea’s life expectancy stood at 80.5 at the end of 2009.

However, with the birthrate shrinking as the population ages, there is growing concern over how the dwindling workforce could adjust and support the society’s increasingly top-heavy structure.

Economists are concerned that more elderly people, coupled with a shrinking working age population, will pose a considerable challenge to Korea’s long-term economic future.

In a recent report, the state-run Korea Development Institute (KDI) predicted pressure from the aging population to take a chunk out of the country’s potential growth. The rate was around the mid-4 percent levels between 2001 and 2007, but the numbers have dropped into the low-4s since the recent financial crisis, the KDI said.

Korea currently has one of the lowest birthrates among maturing economies, with the country’s 2010 figure standing at 1.22 births per woman, well below the 1.71 average of OECD nations.

As with many other countries, Korea expects to see the retiring proportion of its population balloon in the coming years. This is feared to escalate pressures on the country’s fiscal position as the retirees collect their pensions and medical benefits must be paid by a shrinking number of taxpayers.

In recent years, government officials here have worked hard to introduce family-friendly policies, such as expanding tax benefits, providing longer maternity leave and establishing more daycare centers for children of working mothers. But the effects of such changes have been subdued, due in part to a large number of companies being reluctant to make significant changes to their working environment.

Of the Koreans over 100, 54.4 percent cited well-regulated diet as the main reason behind their longevity, while 31 percent cited their optimistic lifestyles. About 70 percent of the centenarians said they have never smoked or drunk alcohol excessively. Gyeonggi Province has the most centenarians at 360, followed by Seoul with 270 and South Jeolla Province with 163.