Farm operators under 40 make up just 0.8 percent in myeon areas, falling from 24,548 to 4,644 over 20 years; residents 65 and older approach 4 in 10
Finding young farmers in South Korea's rural villages is becoming increasingly difficult. In myeon-level areas — the smallest rural administrative unit — fewer than one in every 100 farm operators is under 40. Over the past two decades, the number of farm operators under 40 in these areas has fallen by more than 80 percent, while the share of residents aged 65 and older has climbed toward 40 percent.
According to a report released Monday by the Korea Rural Economic Institute titled "Strategies and Tasks for Rural Policy Transformation," farm operators under 40 in myeon areas numbered 4,644 as of 2020, accounting for just 0.8 percent of all farm operators in those areas — fewer than one in every 100.
The figure was far higher two decades ago. In 2000, myeon areas had 24,548 farm operators under 40. That number dropped to 14,094 by 2010 and fell further to 4,644 by 2020 — a decline of 19,904 people, or 81.1 percent, over 20 years.
Changes in farm operators under 40 in eup and myeon areas
Source: Korea Rural Economic Institute
Category | 2000 | 2010 | 2020 | Decline from 2000 | Share of all operators (2020) | Average per area Eup | 8,930 | 8,742 | 3,110 | 65.2% | 1.6% | 13.5 Myeon | 24,548 | 14,094 | 4,644 | 81.1% | 0.8% | 4.0
Eup areas — a slightly more urbanized rural tier — showed a similar trend. Farm operators under 40 there stood at 3,110 in 2020, representing 1.6 percent of the total. The figure fell from 8,930 in 2000 to 8,742 in 2010 and then to 3,110 in 2020, a drop of 5,820 people, or 65.2 percent, over 20 years.
As the ranks of young farm operators have thinned, aging has accelerated sharply in myeon areas. The share of residents aged 65 and older rose from 18.1 percent in 2000 to 27.8 percent in 2010, 33.0 percent in 2021 and 36.8 percent in 2024 — meaning nearly 4 in every 10 residents are now elderly.
Nationally, residents aged 65 and older made up 20.1 percent of the population in 2024. Eup areas stood at 18.3 percent, while myeon areas reached 36.8 percent — 16.7 percentage points above the national average. The elderly share in myeon areas has more than doubled from 18.1 percent in 2000 over 24 years.
"As farm household aging deepens, the young population that will lead agriculture in the future is in critically short supply across most regions," Senior Research Fellow Seong Ju-in of the Korea Rural Economic Institute wrote in the report. The report calls for cultivating human resources so that young people can grow into active economic participants in rural communities, while also creating an environment where urban residents can find new economic opportunities in the countryside.
adastra@heraldcorp.com
