S. Korea’s total population rebounds in 2023

SEOUL, July 29 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s total population rebounded in 2023 owing to a double-digit growth in foreign residents, statistical office data showed Monday.
The total population added 0.2 percent, or 82,000, from a year earlier to 51,775,000 on Nov. 1 last year, after sliding for the past two years, according to the 2023 census by Statistics Korea.
Foreign residents, who stayed here for at least three months, advanced 10.4 percent to 1,935,000 in the cited period.
Following the COVID-19 pandemic, more foreigners arrived in South Korea last year amid the government’s expanded working visa programs for foreigners.
Local residents fell 0.2 percent to 49,839,000 last year on the back of the lower birth rate and the aging population, keeping a downward trend for the third straight year.
The Asian country has struggled with a chronically low birth rate as young couples delayed or gave up on having babies due to economic difficulties such as high housing prices and stubborn unemployment.
The working-age population aged 15-64 decreased 0.4 percent over the year to 36,546,000 in 2023, accounting for 70.6 percent of the total population.
The proportion of the working-age population continued to go down since 2018.
The elderly population aged 65 and above mounted 5.1 percent to 9,609,000 last year, but those aged 14 and lower dropped 4.1 percent to 5,619,000.
The aging index, or the number of those aged 65 and older per 100 people aged 14 and younger, jumped to 171.0 in 2023 from 113.9 tallied in 2018.
The total number of households stood at 22,728,000 in 2023, up 1.5 percent compared to the previous year.
Households residing in Seoul and its surrounding metropolitan area were estimated at 11,304,000 in 2023, or 49.7 percent of the total number of households.
The average number of family members per household shrank 0.03 over the year to 2.21 last year.
The number of single-member households increased 4.4 percent to 7,829,000 last year, making up the highest 35.5 percent of the total households.
The proportion of one-person households continued to rise from 28.6 percent in 2017 to 30.2 percent in 2019, 33.4 percent in 2021 and 35.5 percent in 2023.
The continued expansion in single-person households came as a result of the aging population and the growing reluctance among the younger generation to get married.
Of the total single-member households, those in their 20s and younger made up the highest 18.6 percent last year, followed by those in their 30s and 60s, both with 17.3 percent.
Those in their 80s and older accounted for 8.1 percent of the total one-person households, while those in their 70s took up 11.0 percent last year. ■