Aging of population accelerates in S. Korea in 2005

The aging of South Korea's population accelerated notably in 2005 from five years earlier as the number of elderly people surged and the birthrate fell, the nation's statistics office said Tuesday.

The number of the aged population grew at a much faster pace than the total population in 2000-2005, while the number of women aged 15-49 fell for the first time in the five-year period, the National Statistical Office said in its regular five-year report.

The South Korean government fears that a continued decline in the nation's birthrate and greater aging of the population may erode the labor pool. According to the central bank in October, South Korea could face a severe labor shortage in 15 years if the birthrate continues to decline, while a government advisory said last week the potential growth rate could fall to the low-4-percent range from 2011 to 2020 amid the population decline.

The number of the aged population, or those 65 and above, rose 29.5 percent to 4.4 million from 2000 to 2005, nearly 13 times the total population growth of 2.3 percent, the state statistics office said.

The number of women aged 15-49 fell for the first time 58,000 to 13 million, while the number of the married women aged 15-49 declined 413,000 to 7.6 million.

On average, married women in South Korea gave birth to 2.4 children in 2005, down from 2.5 in 2000, while the birthrate for married women from ages 15 to 49 came to 1.7.

With more South Koreans marrying later, the portion of unmarried women 25 to 34 years old soared, while the number of married women in that age bracket plunged. The portion of single women rose by 12.4 percentage points to 37.9 percent, while that of married women fell by 12.7 percentage points to 60.3 percent.

From 2000 to 2005, the number of single-person households rose notably due to deferred marriages, it said.

The number of single-person households rose 42.5 percent to 3,171 households from 2000 to 2005, while the total number of households increased 11 percent to 15,887. The number of unmarried single-person households jumped 49.1 percent to 1,427 households.

Seoul, Dec. 26 (Yonhap News)