Koreans aged 70 and over surpass 20-somethings for 1st time

Attendees applaud during a ceremony marking the International Day for Older Persons
in Jung District, central Seoul, Oct. 2. Yonhap

The number of Koreans aged 70 and above has overtaken those in their 20s for the first time, as decades of low birthrates and rapid aging continue to reshape the country’s demographics.

According to the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of people in their 20s stood at around 6.3 million last year, down 193,000 from the previous year — the steepest decline among all age groups.

As a result, the number of people in their 20s last year fell below that of people aged 70 and older — approximately 6.54 million — for the first time since the national census began in 1925, making them the smallest adult age group in Korea’s modern history.

Graphic by Cho Sang-won

The population in their 20s peaked at around 7.03 million in 2020 but has since declined for four consecutive years, falling by 140,000 to 210,000 annually.

By age, people in their 50s made up the largest share of the population at 8.71 million, followed by those in their 40s at 7.81 million and those in their 60s at 7.79 million.

Meanwhile, people in their 20s are facing growing marginalization in the job market.

As of August, the employment rate among people in their 20s stood at 60.5 percent, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier, while the unemployment rate climbed to 5 percent — the highest for the month since 2022.

A growing preference among major corporations for experienced hires is believed to be one of the factors limiting job opportunities for people in their 20s who are just entering the workforce.

The Federation of Korean Industries surveyed the nation’s top 500 companies by revenue and found that roughly 28.1 percent of college graduate new hires last year had prior work experience, up 2.3 percentage points from the year before.