By 2050, Youth Population Falls to 11%... Unmarried Ratio Surpasses 80% for the First Time

Statistics Korea Analyzes Changes in South Korea's Youth Generation
4.7%P Increase in Population Living in Seoul and the Metropolitan Area Over 20 Years
1.93 Million Living Alone, Up 53.8% Compared to 5 Years Ago

The government analyzed that the population of the youth generation in Korea (aged 19 to 34) will decline to about 10% of the total population by 2050. The proportion of unmarried youth reached a record high of 81.5% in 2020 over the past 20 years.

According to the "Changes in Korea's Youth Generation Analyzed from the Population and Housing Census Results (2000?2020)" released by Statistics Korea on the 27th, the youth population was 10,213,000 in 2020, accounting for 20.4% of the total population. The youth population has been steadily decreasing since 1990, with 12,883,000 (28.0%) in 2000 and 10,967,000 (22.9%) in 2010. Statistics Korea estimates that the youth generation will fall to 11.0% of the total population by 2050.

In 2020, 53.8% of the youth generation resided in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Seoul and Gyeonggi. Compared to 2000, the proportion living in the metropolitan and central regions increased by 4.7 and 1.0 percentage points respectively, while the proportions living in the Honam and Yeongnam regions decreased by 1.5 and 4.1 percentage points respectively.

The proportion of youth with a university degree or higher was 53.0% in 2020, with females (58.4%) exceeding males (47.8%). The gender gap widened until 2015 but slightly narrowed in 2020. The number of youth graduates with higher education was 5,098,000 in 2020, a 3.7% decrease from 5,295,000 in 2015.

Students are consulting with company representatives on the 11th at the job fair held at Dongguk University in Seoul until the 13th. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

During this period, 62.5% (6,012,000) of the youth generation were economically active, an increase of 3.6 percentage points from 59.0% in 2015. The economic activity rate of females was 61.1%, rapidly increasing since 2000, reducing the gender gap to 2.7 percentage points. The proportion of those engaged in economic activities while studying was 28.4%, nearly doubling since 2000.

During the same period, 7,837,000 youth were unmarried, accounting for 81.5% of the total youth population. This is a 6.5 percentage point increase from 75.0% in 2015. Among the average marriage age group of 30 to 34 years, the unmarried proportion was 56.3%, about three times higher than 18.7% in 2000. The unmarried proportion of females exceeded half at 56.2% in 2005, and the increase was greater than that of males, showing a trend of narrowing gender differences.

The number of youth living alone in 2020 was 1,935,000, a 53.8% increase from 2015. Among them, females increased by 63.5% to 875,000, and males increased by 46.6% to 1,061,000. By age group, the 25?29 age group showed the largest population size with 820,000, an 80.7% increase compared to 2015.

The main reason youth live alone was "because of their own job" at 55.7%, followed by "independent living" at 23.6%, and "due to their own studies" at 14.8%. Among youth living alone, 50.8% resided in detached houses, and the occupancy types were 58.2% monthly rent, 26.6% jeonse (long-term deposit lease), and 10.5% owned housing. The number of youth living with their parents was 5,321,000, a 6.8% decrease from 2015.

Among the youth generation, 65.2% cover their living expenses through "their own work or occupation (including spouse)," and those receiving parental support were higher among males than females. The highest support was seen in the 20?24 age group and the lowest in the 30?34 age group.

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