As the number of people living alone increases, single-person households surpassed 8 million last year. In terms of percentage, one in three households is a single-person household. The population aged 65 and over also exceeded 10 million for the first time since the survey began. Consequently, the proportion of elderly people in the total population has approached 20%.
The Statistics Korea released the results of the '2024 Population and Housing Census (Registration Census Method)' on the 29th.
According to Statistics Korea, there were 8.04 million single-person households last year, accounting for 36.1% of all households. The percentage of single-person households continues to increase. Over the past three years, the figures were 34.5% in 2022, 35.5% in 2023, and 36.1% last year. However, the growth rate has slowed down. The growth rate in 2022 was 4.7%, but it decreased to 2.8% last year.
The city with the highest percentage of single-person households is Seoul (39.9%). Conversely, the city with the lowest percentage is Ulsan (31.6%). Among those living alone, the age group under 20 accounted for the highest proportion at 17.8%, followed by those in their 60s (17.6%) and 30s (17.4%). By gender, the highest number of single-person households is found in men in their 30s (21.8%) and women in their 60s (18.7%).
As of Nov. 1 last year, the total population in the country was 51,806,000, marking a 0.1% increase compared to the previous year. The total population had decreased for two consecutive years starting in 2021, but has turned to an upward trend from 2023, showing gains for two consecutive years.
At the same time, the elderly population is also increasing. Last year, the elderly population reached 10.12 million, representing 19.5% of the total population. This is the first time that the number of elderly people has exceeded 10 million. The youth population aged 0-14 years stands at 5.42 million (10.5%), while the working-age population aged 15-64 years is 36.26 million (70.0%). The aging index, which indicates the number of elderly individuals per 100 youths, rose to 186.7, an increase of 15.7 from the previous year.
The number of foreigners residing in the country is also increasing. Last year, the number of foreign residents was recorded at 2.043 million, up 5.6% from the previous year. This is the first time it has exceeded 2 million since the survey began. The largest national group is Chinese (Korean descent) at 26.3%, followed by Vietnam (14.0%), China (10.9%), and Thailand (8.7%).
As the number of foreigners increases, multicultural households also grew by 5.7% from the previous year, reaching 439,000 households. Among these, naturalized households accounted for 42.6%, marriage immigrant households made up 35.2%, and multicultural child households constituted 10.9%.
As of November last year, the total number of dwellings stood at 19,873, marking a 1.7% increase compared to the previous year. The annual average change rate in dwellings has been on a declining trend, dropping from 5.4% in 1995. The average increase rate over the past five years is 1.9%, with last year's growth rate showing a slight decrease compared to the previous year.
The average number of residents per dwelling is 2.6, which is a decrease of 0.1 from the previous year and down 0.3 compared to five years ago. The number of uninhabited dwellings, which includes empty houses at 1,599,000, constitutes 8.0% of the total dwellings. This figure reflects uninhabited dwellings as of Nov. 1 last year, including new constructions and empty houses due to sales or relocations.
Among all dwellings, 54.9% are over 20 years old. Specifically, the rate of uninhabited dwellings aged over 30 years varies by province, with Jeonnam at 8.8%, Gyeongbuk at 7.1%, and Jeonbuk at 6.6%.