South Korea is expected to become the world's most aged country in 2044 amid rapid aging, statistical office data showed Monday.
The proportion of South Korean people aged 65 or higher is forecast to account for 36.7 percent of the country's total population in 2044, according to Statistics Korea.
The country will overtake Japan's estimated 36.5 percent in the cited year, becoming the world's most aged nation, according to Yonhap news agency.
The data was based on the 2022 UN population prospects report and the South Korean statistical agency's outlook for the country's population.
The proportion of South Korea's senior citizens is predicted to soar from 17.5 percent in 2022 to 34.4 percent in 2040 and 46.4 percent in 2070.
The corresponding figure for Japan is projected to climb from 29.9 percent in 2022 to 35.2 percent in 2040 and 38.7 percent in 2070.
The proportion of South Korea's working-age population, or those aged 15 to 64, is forecast to decline from 71.0 percent in 2022 to 56.8 percent in 2040 and 46.1 percent in 2070. It peaked at 73.4 percent in 2012.
The corresponding figure for the United States is estimated to slide from 64.9 percent in 2022 to 61.5 percent in 2040 and 57.9 percent in 2070.
The proportion of senior citizens in South Korea is forecast to account for 36.7 per cent of the total population in 2044, outstripping the world's most aged country of Japan with 36.5 per cent, according to data from Statistics Korea.
The timing of the country having the largest proportion of senior citizens in the world will be moved up one year, compared with 2019, when the agency put its estimate at 2045.
The data was compiled based on the UN's outlook for the global population and the South Korean statistics agency's 2020-70 forecast for Korea's population.
The data showed South Korea will undergo aging at a faster pace, while its total population began declining last year amid chronically low birthrates.
The share of people aged 65 or older will likely reach 17.5 per cent of the total population this year and rise to 46.4 per cent in 2070.
South Korea is widely expected to become a super-aged society in 2025, in which the proportion of those aged 65 and older will hit 20 per cent of the total population.
The country became an aged society in 2017, as the proportion of such people exceeded 14 percent.
The proportion of the working-age population, or people aged 15 to 64, peaked at 73.4 per cent in 2012 and will further decline to 71 per cent in 2022. The tally is likely to dip to 46.1 per cent in 2070, the data showed.
Meanwhile, the combined population of South and North Korea is expected to peak at 77.8 million in 2028, the data showed.
South Korea's total population fell for the first time in 2021, while North Korea's population is expected to peak in 2033.
People aged 65 and older made up 16.5 percent of South Korea's population this year, a report showed Wednesday, highlighting concerns that the fast-aging demographic transition could pose a drag on the country's economy.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of people aged 65 and older stood at 8.53 million this year.
The South Korean population is projected to peak in 2028 before going on a downward curve, the report showed.
However, the graying of South Korea will accelerate, with the number of elderly people rising to 12.98 million in 2030 and 17.22 million in 2040.
By 2050, the number of elderly people could account for 43.9 percent of the country's population, according to the report.
The fast-aging population, coupled with record low birthrates, could become a burden on the nation's finances as the cost of health and welfare services for senior citizens increase.
In 2020, the number of elderly heads of households stood at 4.73 million, and 35.1 percent of them were one-person households, the data showed.
Meanwhile, divorces among people aged 65 and older have been growing fast.
The report showed that the number of divorces filed by men in the age group came to 9,854 last year, and the corresponding number for females was 5,285.
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