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More than half of Koreans older than 52 in 2040
By Yoon Ja-young
Korea's population is aging rapidly and will start to fall from 2030 after peaking at 52 million. In 2040, more than half of Koreans will be older than 52.
According to Statistics Korea, Wednesday, Korea's population stood at 50.6 million in 2015; and is expected to peak at 52.2 million in 2030.
The median age of Koreans now stands at 40.8, but it will rise to 52.6 in 2040.
A low birth-rate and a longer life span will change the demographic structure drastically. The country's birthrate, or the number of babies a woman chooses to have, was 1.24 in 2015.
People aged 65 or older now make up 13.1 percent of the population, but the ratio will reach 40.1 percent in 2060.
By then, 100 productive people ― those aged 15-64, will be supporting 80.6 people aged over 65. The ratio is now 17.9.
Single-person households
Statistics also shows that single-person households are increasing.
As more young people delay marriage and more senior citizens live independently from their children, 23.9 percent of households were composed of a single person in 2010, compare with 4.8 percent in 1980.
A household was comprised of 4.5 family members on average in 1980, but this fell to 2.7 in 2010.
More Koreans think marriage is just an option. Those who said marriage was a "must" stood at 56.8 percent in 2014, compared with 68 percent in 2008.
The figures also show that Korean parents are not sparing spending on education. Seven out of 10 elementary, middle or high school students received some private education in 2015, with each costing on average 244,000 won a month.
The average monthly income of households with two members was 4.4 million won in 2015, up 1.6 percent from the previous year. They spent 2.7 million won on average, up 0.5 percent from a year ago. Only 11.4 percent of Koreans were satisfied with their incomes, while 46.3 percent said they are dissatisfied.
Couch potatoes
Koreans spent most of their leisure time watching TV, resting, playing computer games or using the Internet, but what they wanted to do most was travel.
Last year, two thirds of Koreans traveled within Korea, while 20 percent traveled abroad.
Koreans, meanwhile, are giving less. Only 29.9 percent of Koreans made some donation in 2015, compared with 36.4 percent in 2011. Asked why they did not donate, 63.5 percent cited economic reasons. Only 18.2 percent volunteered, down 1.7 percent from 2013.
Korean babies born in 2014 can expect to live until an average age of 82.4 years ― boys 79, and girls 85.5.
A total of 1.9 million crimes were committed in 2014, down 3.6 percent from the previous year. However, major crimes such as theft, murder, rape or robbery increased 1.5 percent to 512,000.
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