Pohang City Conducts Research on Low Birthrate and Aging 'Population Burden'... 2% Decrease in 4 Years

A scene from the population policy research service report meeting of Pohang City.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Dongwook Park] Pohang City announced on the 14th that it held a ‘Research Service Kick-off Meeting’ chaired by Vice Mayor Song Kyungchang, attended by 14 heads of departments related to population policy.

The meeting proceeded with a presentation on the task contents and implementation plan of the research service, followed by collecting opinions from the heads of departments related to population policy regarding the task implementation. The Korea Local Autonomy Association, which is in charge of this research service, plans to start with this kick-off meeting this month, proceed through a mid-term report, and announce the final research results in September.

Earlier, Pohang City announced a roadmap in the first half of this year to establish population policies responding to changes in population structure under the vision of ‘A sustainable Pohang where all generations are happy together.’ On the 8th, the city passed the draft ordinance for the ‘Pohang City Population Policy Basic Ordinance,’ which is scheduled to be promulgated on the 26th.

Vice Mayor Song Kyungchang stated, “We will do our best to anticipate and respond to the impacts of ongoing low birth rates and population outflow on the overall region, discover customized strategies suitable for our area, and create a Pohang where all generations are happy.”

Meanwhile, as South Korea faces the ‘Demographic Onus’ crisis characterized by a decrease in the working-age population and a reduction in labor supply, Pohang City’s total population at the end of last year was 513,021, a 2.21% decrease compared to 524,634 in 2015. Due to the decrease in the young and youth population and the increase in the elderly population, Pohang City’s average age rose by 2.5 years from 41.0 in 2015 to 43.5 in 2019.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.