Youth population in S. Korea to halve in 30 years: data

The number of young South Koreans is forecast to halve in 30 years amid a rapid aging trend and a record low birthrate, the statistics agency said Monday, Yonhap reports.

The number of people aged 19-34 came to 10.21 million in 2020, and the figure is forecast to tumble to 5.21 million in 2050, according to the analysis by Statistics Korea.

The proportion of the young population out of the country's total came to 20.4 percent in 2020, but it is expected to fall to 11 percent in 2050, it added.

The number of young people has been on a steady decline over the past decades from 13.85 million in 1990, accounting for 31.9 percent of the total, to 12.88 million in 2000, 10.97 million in 2010 and 10.21 million in 2020.

The rate of unmarried people in the age group had risen over the past decades.

In 2020, 7.84 million young people were unmarried, accounting for 81.5 percent of the total population of the age bracket.

The proportion came to 54.5 percent in 2000 and grew to 68.9 percent in 2010, the data showed.

South Korea saw a sharp increase in the number of economically active young women, with the rate of female workers jumping from 42.3 percent in 2000 to 61.1 percent in 2020.

Among men, 63.9 percent had a job in 2020, compared with 66 percent 20 years ago, the data showed.

The country's total fertility rate -- the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime -- came to a record low of around 0.7 in 2023.