South Korea on track to become world's oldest nation by 2060 as elderly outnumber toddlers for first time in history

South Korea is projected to become the world's oldest nation by 2060, according to a new report.

The US Census Bureau report "An Aging World: 2025," released Thursday (local time), found that the global elderly population stood at about 852 million last year, Yonhap said. That figure represents 10.5 percent of the world's total population of about 8.13 billion. For the first time in recorded history, the number of people aged 65 and older has surpassed the number of children under 5, whose share of the global population has fallen below 10 percent. "The reversal in the population rankings of the youngest and oldest age groups is occurring for the first time in human history," the report said, adding that the gap is expected to widen sharply for years to come.

The report also projected that South Korea's elderly population share, which stood at 20.3 percent last year — ranking 22nd globally — will more than double to 41 percent by 2060, overtaking Japan, the current top-ranked country, to give South Korea the highest proportion of elderly people in the world.

The share of South Koreans aged 80 and older is also expected to climb from 4.8 percent last year to 18.3 percent by 2060, placing the country third globally behind Monaco (27.1 percent) and Japan (19.4 percent).

In the United States, the share of people aged 65 and older is forecast to rise from 18.9 percent last year to 23.4 percent by 2060. However, the country is expected to fall from 48th to 110th in global aging rankings as other nations age more rapidly.

Separate data from the Korean Statistical Information Service (KOSIS) under the Ministry of Statistics, released last month, showed that South Korea's youth population shrank by nearly a quarter over the past decade while its elderly population grew by more than 60 percent, Yonhap reported at the time.

According to registered census figures compiled each November, the population aged 0 to 14 stood at about 5.22 million in 2025, a 24.9 percent decline from 2015. Over the same period, the number of people aged 65 and older surged 62 percent — from about 6.62 million to about 10.72 million — crossing the 10 million mark.

Particularly striking is the growth among those aged 85 and older. That group expanded at an annual rate of roughly 6 to 10 percent over the past decade, more than doubling from about 525,700 to about 1.15 million. As a result, children aged 0 to 14 accounted for 10.1 percent of South Korea's total population of about 51.82 million in 2025, while those aged 65 and older made up 20.7 percent.

The OECD, in a recent economic survey of South Korea, flagged structural challenges including the low birth rate, an aging population and regional economic disparities, calling for comprehensive structural reforms.