1 in 5 South Koreans aged 65 and older in 2026: data

By 2026, over 20 percent of South Korea's population consisted of individuals aged 65 and older, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics. The senior citizen population stood at 11.12 million, making up 21.6 percent of the country's total population of 51.6 million. This puts South Korea in the category of a super-aged society, with the proportion expected to increase further to 30 percent by 2036 and over 40 percent by 2050.

The number of households headed by senior citizens totaled 6.5 million, accounting for 28.8 percent of all households in the nation. Within these households, 38 percent were single-person households, a trend that has been on the rise since 2015. Projections indicate that households led by senior citizens could rise to account for 50.6 percent of the total households in South Korea by 2052.

As of 2024, the remaining life expectancy for individuals aged 65 was estimated at 21.7 years on average. Men had a life expectancy of 19.5 years, while women lived an average of 23.7 years beyond the age of 65. The net assets of households headed by senior citizens were also examined, but the specific figures were not provided in the data.