"World Population Increases... South Korea's Population Declines to 38 Million by 2070"

Statistics Korea's "Low Birthrate and Changes in Our Society" on the 11th

While the world population is projected to increase to 10.3 billion by 2070, South Korea is expected to experience a continuous population decline after peaking in 2020, reaching 38 million by 2070.

According to the Statistics Korea report titled "Low Fertility and Changes in Our Society" released on the 11th, South Korea's population is forecasted to decrease from 52 million in 2023 to 38 million in 2070. While the global population is expected to grow from 8.05 billion in 2023 to 10.3 billion in 2070, South Korea's population is predicted to decline after peaking in 2020. South Korea's population is expected to fall into the 40 million range by 2041, returning to the size it was in 2011, and further decrease to 38 million by 2070.

The change in population structure, with a decreasing working-age population and an increasing elderly population, is also expected to be drastic. Between 2023 and 2070, the global working-age population (ages 15-64) is projected to decrease by 3.6 percentage points from 65% to 61.4%, whereas South Korea's working-age population is expected to drop sharply by 24.4 percentage points from 70.5% to 46.1%. While the global elderly population is projected to increase by 10.1 percentage points from 10.0% to 20.1%, South Korea's elderly population is expected to surge by 28.0 percentage points from 18.4% to 46.4%.

This trend is influenced by the decline in the number of births and the total fertility rate. The number of births in 2022 was 249,000, which is a 48.6% decrease compared to 485,000 ten years earlier. The total fertility rate was 0.78, a decrease of 0.52 (-39.9%) from 1.30 in 2012.

The number of marriages is also on a downward trend. In 2022, there were 192,000 marriages, a decrease of 103,000 compared to 295,000 in 1970. The crude marriage rate, which indicates the number of marriages per 1,000 people, was 3.7, down by 5.5 from the 1970s. Lee Hyeong-il, Commissioner of Statistics Korea, stated, "To support various policies responding to changes in population structure, we plan to establish a low fertility statistical indicator system that comprehensively captures various statistical indicators related to low fertility and provide it in 2024."

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