Net Public Transfers to the Elderly Reach 64.5 Trillion Won... Largest Since Statistics Began

Statistics Korea Announces '2017 National Transfer Accounts Results' on the 7th
Surplus Entry at Age 28 → Peak at Age 58 → Deficit Shift at Age 59

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] As of 2017, it was found that there was a net inflow of 64.5 trillion KRW in the elderly population aged 65 and over. This is the highest figure since statistics began in 2010.

Statistics Korea announced the results of the "2017 National Transfer Accounts" on the 7th. The National Transfer Accounts is an indicator that captures labor income and consumption by age group, public transfers, and private transfers within and between households, showing how fiscal burdens are redistributed across generations.

Statistics Korea analyzed that "the elderly experience net inflows in all sectors except education, including health and basic pensions." On the other hand, children aged 14 and under recorded net inflows of 60.7 trillion KRW from public transfers and 76.8 trillion KRW from private transfers. The net inflows for children mainly occurred in education, health, and other transfers.

The life-cycle deficit of Korean citizens follows a three-stage structure of deficit, surplus, and deficit. It enters a surplus phase at age 28, peaks at age 58, and returns to a deficit at age 59.

The per capita life-cycle deficit reaches its maximum of 32.15 million KRW at age 16. The deficit continues until age 27, after which it enters a surplus phase at age 28, reaching a surplus of 33.54 million KRW at age 45.

Regarding consumption, public consumption, which includes public education and public health, amounted to 283 trillion KRW, increasing from the previous year across children (65.1 trillion KRW), working-age population (168.5 trillion KRW), and elderly (49.5 trillion KRW).

In particular, amid population aging, public health consumption by the elderly reached 36.4 trillion KRW, increasing by 12.1% from the previous year and rising by around 10% annually since 2010.

Private consumption was mainly generated by the working-age population with 70.6 trillion KRW for children, 573.6 trillion KRW for the working-age group, and 71.9 trillion KRW for the elderly. The private consumption scale of the elderly is steadily increasing due to population growth.

Labor income amounted to 881 trillion KRW, a 4.6% increase from the previous year, with the working-age population (ages 15?64) accounting for 854.2 trillion KRW, or 97.0% of total labor income.

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