South Korea has become a “super-aged” society with one in five people aged 65 or older, official data showed last week, underscoring the country’s deepening demographic crisis. The number of people aged 65 and older stands at 10.24 million, accounting for 20% of South Korea’s population of 51 million, according to new data released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The United Nations classifies countries with more than 7% of the population 65 or older as an “aging society,” those with over 14% as an “aged society” and those with more than 20% as a “super-aged” society. South Korea has been grappling with infamously low birth rates, dropping to just 0.72 in 2023, the world’s lowest, after years of decline. Countries need a fertility rate of 2.1 to maintain a stable population, in the absence of immigration. According to the ministry’s latest data, about 22% of women in South Korea are aged 65 or older, while the proportion of men over that age is nearly 18%, the interior ministry said. The data underscores the demographic time bomb that South Korea and other East Asian nations are facing as their societies age just a few decades after their rapid industrialization. Many European nations also face aging populations, but immigration helps them to mitigate the impact. East Asian countries like South Korea and Japan, however, have shied away from mass immigration to tackle the decline in their working age populations. Experts say the reasons for the demographic shift across Asia include demanding work cultures, stagnating wages, the rising cost of living, changing attitudes toward marriage and gender equality, and rising disillusionment among younger generations. (SD-Agencies) 上周的官方數據顯示，韓國已成為一個“超老齡化”社會，每五人中就有一人年齡在65歲或以上，突顯了該國不斷加深的人口危機。 韓國內政和安全部發布的最新數據顯示該國65歲及以上的人口為1024萬，占5100萬人口的20%。 按照聯合國的標準，當一個國家65歲及以上人口占比超過7%時，即被視為進入“老齡化社會”；超過14%時，則進入“深度老齡化社會”；而占比超過20%，則標志著該國已進入“超老齡化”社會。 韓國一直在努力應對低出生率，2023年的生育率更是降至0.72，創全球最低紀錄。在沒有移民的情況下，一個國家要維持人口穩定，生育率需達到2.1。 內政部表示，最新數據顯示韓國約22%的女性年齡在65歲或以上，而同齡男性比例則接近18%。。這些數據突顯了韓國和其他東亞國家在快速工業化進程后，僅用了短短幾十年時間就遭遇了人口老齡化的嚴峻危機。 與許多歐洲國家相比，雖然它們也面臨人口老齡化的問題，但移民在一定程度上緩解了這一壓力。然而，韓國、日本等東亞國家卻未能通過大規模移民來應對勞動年齡人口下降的問題。 專家指出，亞洲人口結構變化的原因復雜多樣，包括苛刻的工作文化、停滯不前的工資水平、不斷上漲的生活成本、對婚姻和性別平等態度的轉變以及年輕一代日益加劇的幻滅感等。 | 