By Bae Keun-min
Staff Reporter
South Cholla Province has the largest share of senior citizens in Korea while Ulsan has the smallest.

The National Statistical Office (NSO) on Friday reported that 30 of the 247 counties across the nation have already become super-aged communities with residents aged more than 65 years accounting for over 20 percent of the population last year.



Moreover, the elderly are forecast to outnumber children by 2020, the NSO reported.
The NSO said both the senior citizens of the Uiryong county and Namhae county in South Kyongsang Province accounted for 24.7 percent of the total number of residents last year.

Elderly residents accounted for 23.6 percent of the population of Uisong county in North Kyongsang Province and 23.5 percent of Kunui county’s population.

``Rural communities have been aging faster than urban areas mostly due to the increasing exodus of young people to the cities,’’ an NSO official said.

By province, 14.1 percent of South Cholla Province residents were aged more than 65 years, the largest among the 16 provinces and metropolitan cities. The province has become the only aged province in Korea, with the elderly accounting for more than 14 percent but less than 20 percent of the total population.

South Chungchong Province was the second most aged region with 12.8 percent of residents older than 65, followed by North Kyongsang Province (12.3 percent), North Cholla Province (11.8 percent) and Kangwon Province (10.9 percent).

With North Chungchong Province at 10.4 percent, Kyonggi Province at 9.8 percent, South Kyongsang Province at 9.5 percent, Cheju Province at 9.2 percent and Pusan at 7.3 percent, 9 of the 16 provinces and metropolitan cities have aging communities with the elderly accounting for between 7 and 14 percent of the total population.

Metropolitan cities such as Taegu (6.9 percent), Kwangju (6.4 percent), Seoul (6.4 percent), Taejon (6.3 percent) and Inchon (6.3 percent) had a lesser proportion of senior citizens. Only 4.7 percent of Ulsan’s population were senior citizens.

The index of aging, calculated by the number of elderly aged more than 65 divided by the number of youth aged 0-14, is estimated at 43.3 percent this year. But the index is forecast to surge to 62 percent in 2010 and 109 percent in 2020. An index above 100 percent indicates the elderly outnumbers the young.

The index has risen from 7.2 percent in 1970 to 11.2 percent in 1980, 20 percent in 1990 and 23.9 percent in 1994. It is predicted to hit 186.6 percent in 2030.

In 2030, 2.8 persons aged 15-64 will be responsible for supporting one elderly person, up from this year’s 8.6 persons and 4.7 persons predicted for 2020.

The NSO said Korea became an aging society in 2000 with 7.2 percent of the population aged more than 65. The ratio is expected to hit 8.7 percent this year.

Korea will become an aged society in 2019 with 14.4 percent of the population expected to be aged over 65. One in every five persons needs to be aged more than 65 years in order to be classified as a super-aged society.

kenbae@koreatimes.co.kr