Households with Two or Fewer Members Account for 60%... Housing Supply Rate 'Lowest in Seoul'

2021 Social Indicators of Korea

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] Six out of ten households in South Korea consist of 'two or fewer' members. The proportion of single-person households has exceeded 30%, and even among married couples, the number of cases without childbirth appears to be increasing.

As of 2020, the housing supply rate fell to 103.6%, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous year. In particular, Seoul's housing supply rate was 94.9%, the lowest in the country.

On the 24th, Statistics Korea released the '2021 Korea Social Indicators' containing these details. As of 2020, the proportion of single-person households was 31.7%, and two-person households accounted for 28.0%, increasing by 1.5 percentage points and 0.2 percentage points respectively compared to the previous year. The combined proportion of 'two or fewer' households reached 59.7%, the highest ever recorded. The share of one- and two-person households is steadily increasing, while the share of households with three or more members is decreasing. The average household size is 2.34 persons.

Last year, the total fertility rate was only 0.81. It has set a new 'lowest ever' record for five consecutive years since 2017.

The total population was 51.58 million, peaking at 51.84 million in 2021 before entering a declining trend. Notably, 26.054 million people, more than half of the total population, reside in the 수도권 (Sudogwon, Seoul Capital Area). Statistics Korea expects this 'population concentration in the 수도권' to continue in the future.

In 2020, the number of houses per 1,000 people was 418.2, an increase of 6.6 houses from the previous year. The number of houses per 1,000 people in the 수도권 regions of Gyeonggi (378.5 houses), Incheon (385.3 houses), and Seoul (394.2 houses) was significantly lower than the national average.

The housing supply rate was 103.6%, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous year. The housing supply rate is calculated by dividing the number of houses by the number of general households. Regions with a housing supply rate below 100% included Seoul (94.9%), Daejeon (98.3%), and Incheon (98.9%).

On the other hand, the region with the highest housing supply rate was Gyeongbuk (115.4%), followed by Chungbuk (112.8%) and Jeonnam (112.6%).

In 2020, the price-to-income ratio (PIR) was 5.5 times, and the rent-to-income ratio (RIR) was 16.6%, both slightly increased compared to the previous year.

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