One in five people is 65 or older... by 2072, one in two will be elderly

[Financial News] The proportion of the elderly population aged 65 or older recorded 21.6% this year, up 1.3 percentage points from last year. This means that one in five people in the total population is elderly. The proportion of the elderly population, which is expected to steadily increase in the future, is projected to surpass 30% in 2036—ten years from now—and 40% in 2050. By 2072, it is expected to reach 47.7%, approaching half of the total population.
As the proportion of the elderly increases in this way, the old-age dependency ratio is expected to exceed 100 by 2066. This means that starting 30 years from now, each working-age person (15–64 years old) will have to support one elderly person (65 years or older).
According to the 2026 elderly population statistics released by the National Data Center on the 1st, the elderly population aged 65 or older this year stands at 11,125,016, accounting for 21.6% of the total population (51,609,121). After surpassing the 20% mark last year, the proportion increased by approximately 1.3 percentage points annually this year.
The proportion of the elderly population is projected to increase sharply in the future. As with previous analyses, the impact of low birth rates and an aging population is significant.
Although the total domestic population began to decline starting in 2021, the proportion of the elderly population continues to increase. The total population is projected to fall to the 40 million range in 2045 and drop below that level by 2065.
On the other hand, the elderly population is expected to increase every year and peak at 18.68 million in 2060. Although it is projected to decline slightly thereafter, the rate of decline is expected to be much more moderate than the trend of the total population decline.
Accordingly, the proportion of the elderly population is projected to exceed 30.9% (15,674,083 people) in 2036 and 40.1% (18,907,853 people) in 2050.
The projected proportion of the elderly population in 2072 is 47.7% (17,270,735 people) of the total population (36,222,293 people), approaching 50%. This means that one out of every two people in the country is elderly.
The old-age dependency ratio, which represents the proportion of the elderly population (65 years or older) relative to the working-age population (15 to 64 years), stands at 31.3 this year. This is projected to reach 50.1 in 10 years and 100.8 in 2066. The old-age dependency ratio refers to the number of people aged 65 or older that 100 working-age people must support. In other words, starting 30 years from now, one person aged 15 to 64 will have to support one elderly person.
As of 2024, the life expectancy (number of years expected to live) for a 65-year-old is 21.7 years (19.5 years for men and 23.7 years for women). This is 0.8 years higher for men and 1.9 years higher for women than the OECD average.
In 2024, per capita medical expenses for the elderly aged 65 or older were 5,376,000 won and out-of-pocket expenses were 1,256,000 won, an increase of 70,000 won and 4,000 won, respectively, compared to the previous year.
In 2024, 68.8% of households with a head aged 65 or older owned a home. By age group, the home ownership rate was highest for households with a head in their 70s at 71%, followed by those aged 65–69 (68.6%) and those aged 80 or older (64.3%).
As of 2025, the average net assets of households with members aged 65 or older amounted to 492.79 million won, an increase of 26.85 million won from the previous year. This is approximately 21.35 million won higher than the average for all households. Real estate accounted for the highest proportion at 79.9%, while savings stood at 14.3%, which was lower than other age groups.
In 2024, the pension recipient rate for the elderly aged 65 and over is 91.2%. They are receiving an average monthly pension of 737,000 won.
As of last year, the employment rate for the elderly aged 65 and over was 39.5%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous year. By industry, personal and public services and others accounted for the largest share (46.7%), followed by agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (19.3%), and wholesale, retail, and accommodation and food services (13.8%).

[email protected] Kim Jun-hyeok Reporter