How different are the lives of those born in 1983 and 1993? Do factors like residence and earned income level have the same impact on marriage and childbirth?
The Statistics Korea will develop a new 'Population Dynamics Panel Statistics' this year to understand the relationship between individuals' economic and social characteristics and marriage and childbirth. The Population Dynamics Panel Statistics will collect data by tracking and observing life event changes for those born between 1983 and 1995, based on administrative data such as Population Dynamics Cohort Database and statistical registries. It will analyze the degree of transition in marriage and childbirth across various categories, including residence, education level, earned income level, whether both partners work, and caregiving support. This aims to discover customized low birthrate policies through an integrated analysis that considers both societal factors and individual characteristics.
On the 21st, the Statistics Korea announced its '2025 Major Business Promotion Plan,' which includes these objectives. This year, the Statistics Korea has selected four key tasks to focus on: ▲ production of national statistics to support dynamic economy and livelihoods stability ▲ expansion of statistical data ▲ establishment of a foundation for trusted national statistics production ▲ enhancement of national statistical infrastructure and methodological research.
The Statistics Korea will develop economic statistics that better reflect reality this year. It plans to revise representative items and weights based on changes in consumer expenditure, and develop rental price indices. To enable swift economic assessment, it will create advanced economic indicators that are disclosed at the beginning of the following month and introduce a comprehensive private consumption index that includes both goods and services.
The expansion of welfare statistics will also be pursued to enhance welfare and alleviate inequality. The results of the 'Time Use Survey,' capturing how individuals utilize 24 hours a day throughout the year, will be announced in July. Additionally, it will expand the status of pension system recipients among those aged 60 to 64, who are in a transitional phase of the pension system, categorized by different pension systems and individual characteristics. The survey will also assess the isolation and seclusion status across all age groups, and investigate the status of youth providing family care to formulate tailored policies based on age groups.
To prevent local extinction, it will analyze the current population status in regions. It will link the characteristics of domestic population movement over the past 20 years to issues like local extinction and the concentration of the population in the capital area. It will investigate the scale of youth outflow from non-capital areas, reasons for migration, and domestic movement by individuals to understand the reasons for local extinction from multiple angles. Additionally, it will publish Gross Domestic Regional Product (GDRP) quarterly, and disclose indicators related to nonfinancial assets and productivity for 17 provinces.
The Statistics Korea also aims to enhance data expansion and strengthen its data hub capabilities. It will select survey items that can diagnose societal changes through the 2025 Population and Housing Census. The entire survey process will be digitized to improve efficiency, while promotional efforts will be made to encourage public participation in the survey. This year, it also plans to understand trends in the agriculture and fisheries sectors in terms of climate change response, agricultural technology development, aging, and foreign employment through the Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries Census.
In addition, it will expand merged data through public and private data linkage, develop new statistical registry items, and invigorate the statistical data center. By building a single portal that consolidates the fragmented public statistical service channels across 11 portals, it aims to improve public access to statistics.
It will also establish the foundation for producing trusted national statistics. To reinforce pre-impact assessments and post-management during improvements and development of statistics, a quality subgroup will be newly established within the National Statistical Commission. Furthermore, it will continue to expand demand-customized special classifications focused on 12 major national strategic technologies, including advanced biotechnology.
Research on expanding the national statistical infrastructure and methodologies will also be conducted. The Statistics Korea will promote the diffusion of the next-generation national statistics system and innovate statistical production using artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance respondent cooperation and improve survey quality.