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As of the end of last year, Korea’s population declined for the first time, and the proportion of single-person households was also increasing rapidly.
As of the end of last year, the number of single-person households across the country recorded 9.63 million, exceeding 9 million for the first time. The proportion of single-person households out of all households also reached a record high of 39.2%. The combined share of single and double households also accounted for 62.6% of the total households. The proportion of single-person households, which was 56.5% in 2016, increased by 6.1 percentage points in five years.
On the other hand, the proportion of households with four or more people dropped from 25.1% in 2016 to 20.0% last year. Due to the increase in the number of single-person households, the total number of households exceeded 23 million for the first time, with 23.93 million households. The average number of household members per household was 2.24, a record low. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said, “The change in the traditional concept of family is appearing as a change in households, which shows that the direction of national policy needs to be revised in various fields such as housing, welfare, and environment.”
The population aging phenomenon is also intensifying. The proportion of the population under the age of 20 was only 16.9%, while those over 60 accounted for 24.0% of the total. Compared to 10 years ago, teens decreased by 4.0 percentage points, while those in their 60s or older increased 8.2 percentage points. As for the number of people in their 50s, the number of people in their 50s accounted for 16.7%, accounting for 16.7% for the third consecutive year. This was followed by 16.0% in their 40s, 13.3% in their 30s, 13.1% in their 20s, 13.0% in their 60s, 9.2% in their teens, and 7.7% in their under 10s. The Ministry of Public Administration and Security said, “The number of people in their 30s, 40s and under 10s rapidly declined, whereas those in their 60s and over have increased to a quarter of the total population. This is required in earnest,” he said.
The phenomenon of population concentration in the metropolitan area is also getting worse. The population of the metropolitan area such as Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon was 26,383,307, accounting for 50.2% of the total population. Compared to the metropolitan area’s population of 25.5799 at the end of 2019, accounting for 50.002%, both the population and the proportion have increased. In particular, out of 17 provinces, only five local governments whose population has increased from 2019 are Gyeonggi-do, Sejong-si, Jeju-do, Gangwon-do, and Chungcheongbuk-do. Gyeonggi-do’s population increased by 18,7348, followed by Sejong (15,256), Jeju (3646), Gangwon (1338), and Chungbuk (830). On the other hand, the population of the remaining 12 cities and provinces decreased, and the population of 8 cities, including Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Daejeon, Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, and Gyeongbuk, decreased compared to 10 years ago.
Among the cities, counties, and gus, the population of Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do increased by 39852 people, and the population increased in 60 places, including Gimpo-si, Gyeonggi-do (36,743) and Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do (27,213). On the other hand, population declined in 166 places, including Gwangmyeong-si, Gyeonggi-do (reduced 17,953 people). An official from the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said, “In terms of regional population increase and decrease, social increase and decrease due to moving in and out is more important than natural increase or decrease such as birth and death.” said.
If the trend of decreasing the number of births and increasing number of deaths cannot be reversed, it will be difficult to prevent the trend of population decline. The number of births last year was 275,815, a decrease of 32,822 (10.65%) from the previous year. On the other hand, the number of deaths last year recorded 30,7764, an increase of 9269 (3.10%) compared to the previous year. In particular, the number of births per year fell below 400,000 in 2017, and then the number of 300,000 people collapsed in three years, indicating that the low birth rate problem is accelerating. The number of deaths has been steadily increasing over the past 10 years, excluding 2019, which decreased slightly after recording 258335 in 2011. An official from the Ministry of Public Administration and Security analyzed that “as the low birth rate is approaching at a much faster rate, it seems that a fundamental change in government policy is necessary.”
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