Nearly Half of Korea's Population Expected to Be 65 or Older by 2070

Nearly half of Korea's population is expected to be aged 65 or older by 2070.

According to a report released by Statistics Korea on Monday, the proportion of people 65 or older will likely exceed 46 percent in about 50 years, up dramatically from the current 17.5 percent, while the country's working age population is expected to plummet from 71 percent to 46.1 percent.

Korea's total population is projected to shrink by around 27 percent, from the current 52 million to 38 million, due to the country's low fertility rate.

The country's total fertility rate, which gauges the average number of babies a woman gives birth to, stood at an all-time low of 0.81 last year, which was the lowest in the world excluding Hong Kong at 0.75.

Statistics Korea added that the combined population of the two Koreas will also drop to 61 million by 2070, down from 78 million this year.

The world population, however, is expected to grow from 7.97 billion to 10.3 billion over the same period.