While the global population is aging, South Korea is one of the most rapidly aging societies worldwide. It took 17 years for Korea to transition to an aged society from an aging society, defined as proportions of the population aged 65 years or older of ≥14.0% and 7.0%, respectively, while Japan took 24 years for the same transition.¹⁾ More strikingly, Korea is expected to become a super-aged society, defined as a proportion of the population aged 65 years or older of ≥20.0%, in 2025. This prominent trend of population aging in Korea has been, to some degree, attributed to rapid economic development that accompanies the fast-growing life expectancy at birth with the establishment of modern healthcare systems after the Korean War (1950–1953) and the lowest birth rate among developed countries.^2,3)

Many potential social and economic challenges arise from the unprecedented speed of population aging in Korea. Human aging biology leads to an increased prevalence of multiple chronic conditions, frailty, and functional decline in older adults.^4,5) Therefore, a given society must prepare to serve its aging population in a multifaceted manner, from developing fiscal policies to establishing healthcare models that are specially designed for older multimorbid individuals.⁶⁾ While many policies have been developed to tackle the aging population, the sustainability and viability of modern welfare systems and government-operated healthcare systems that were originally proposed in Western countries have not been tested at this extreme pace of aging in Korea.

To establish future care policies for the older population, it is necessary to understand the dynamically changing social characteristics and health status of these people. In 2019, we summarized the general health and socioeconomic profiles of Korean older adults based on an analysis of data from the 2017 National Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Older Koreans.⁷⁾ The present brief review updated the previous study from the preliminary results of the latest National Survey of Living Conditions and Welfare Needs of Older Koreans performed in 2020 by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Republic of Korea.⁸⁾ This survey was conducted for 9 months, from March 2020 to November 2020, and encompassed 969 nationwide investigation districts and 10,097 older adults aged over 65 years. The survey investigated the general information, family and social relationships, health and functional status, economic status, leisure and social activity, and living environment of this population. For disabilities, we used data from the 2019 Long-Term Care Status Survey, a triennial study started in 2019 to assess the population characteristics of long-term care insurance (LTCI) and related services.⁹⁾ In addition, we provided a brief updated summary of recent literature from population-based studies on age-related conditions in Korea.¹⁰⁾ Based on this study, we intended to provide an up-to-date reference for Korean nationwide statistical data on common clinical and social parameters used in research on geriatrics and gerontology.

According to the Korean statistics in 2019, the population aged 65 years or older was 7,746 thousand persons, accounting for 15.5% of the total population, a 4.8% increase compared to the previous year.¹¹⁾ The overall life expectancy at birth was 86.3 years in women and 80.0 years in men. In particular, the remaining life expectancies at 60 years of age were 28.1 and 23.3 years for women and men, respectively, which were an increase of 0.6 and 0.5 years, respectively, from 2018.¹²⁾

The private income of older adults per year has steadily increased to US$13,939 compared to US$10,384 (2017) and US$8,430 (2014). More than one-third (36.9%) of the total older adults and 55% of older adults aged 65–69 years were currently working. The proportion of employee/self-employment income and private pension increased significantly, which subsequently increased the chance of financial independence. Most older adults (78.2%) lived as a single household: living alone or living with a spouse with frequent (more than once weekly) contact with their children, friends, and neighbors. The level of education had also increased markedly; the uneducated group shrank to 10.6% (33% in 2008), while the proportion of older adults with education beyond high school increased to 34.3% (17.2% in 2008) (Table 1).⁸⁾

The most important lifetime activities were hobbies and leisure (37.7%), followed by economic (25.4%), social (19.3%), religious (14.1%), volunteer (1.7%), and learning activity (0.9%). Smartphone users accounted for 56.4% of the population, and the ability to use smartphones was far superior in young-old adults. For instance, 92.4% of individuals aged 65–69 years could send text messages compared to 19.9% among those aged 85 years and older. Most (83.8%) older Korean adults preferred to live in the same place, and more than half (56.5%) of the adults also desired aging-in-place even with an impaired mobility status. The level of overall satisfaction with life was 49.6%. Satisfaction with health status increased considerably from 37.1% (2017) to 50.5% (2020). The satisfaction with economic status also increased from 28.8% (2017) to 37.4% (2020) (Table 2).⁸⁾ However, these trends should be interpreted with some caution with possible cohort or period effects along with drastic social changes.

Mostly living as a single household, Korean older adults had higher education levels and higher private income compared with that reported previously. In contrast to previous reports from the 2017 survey, we noted the increasing adoption of information technology in the older population. Moreover, economic status is improving in this population. We also observed trends in the older population of caring for their own health and having improved satisfaction with their general health. Healthcare providers and policymakers should reflect these current characteristics of older adults to pursue healthy aging and establish an age-friendly healthcare environment.