Aging South Korea... Record Low Population Under Age 4

Statistics Korea's '2019 Population and Housing Census' on the 28th

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] Last year, the population of South Korean nationals aged 4 and under recorded an all-time low. On the other hand, the proportion of elderly people aged 65 and over increased by 4.8%. It was found that more than half of all households consist of one- or two-person households.

Statistics Korea announced the '2019 Population and Housing Census' with these details on the 28th. The population aged 0-4 last year was 1,842,000, a 6.4% decrease compared to 2018. This is the first time since related statistics have been compiled in 1949.

In 2017 (2,076,000), the population remained above 2 million, but it sharply dropped to 1,968,000 in 2018. Meanwhile, the elderly population aged 65 and over increased from 7.39 million to 7.75 million, exceeding 15% of the total population.

A Statistics Korea official said, "The population aged 4 and under continues to decline," adding, "It recorded the lowest level since statistics began in 1949."

Meanwhile, as of November last year, the total number of households nationwide was 20.89 million, an increase of 1.9% from the previous year. The average household size for general households was 2.39 persons, and the most common household type was one-person households, accounting for 30.2% of the total. Two-person households accounted for 27.8%, three-person households 20.7%, four-person households 16.2%, and households with five or more people accounted for 5.0%. One- and two-person households combined accounted for 58.1%, exceeding half of all households.

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