For the first time since Korean independence the female population has exceeded the male population.
The young and teenage population decreased, while the older population is markedly increasing.
The National Statistical Office released the 2005 Population Census on May 25.
This survey was conducted during November 1 to 15, on all Koreans living in Korea. According to the results of the population census, as of November 1, Koreas population is 47.28 million, up 2.5% from 2000 (46.14 million).
There were 23.65 million females recorded, which is 30,000 more females than males (23.62 million). This is the first time since 1944 that the number of females exceeded the number of males.
In 1944, right before independence, there were more women because most of the men were enlisted in the army due to the war.
Jeon Sin-ae, head of the Population and Social Statistics Bureau, said, The male preference culture has weakened, and with the increase in the number of elderly females, the proportion of women in the total population has increased.
The number of children under 14 is at 8.99 million, 650 thousand less than 2000. On the other hand, the number of elderly population over 65 increased by 1.0 million, from 3.37 million to 4.37 million during the same period.
The aging index, which is the number of the elderly to the number of children, stood at 48.6 % last year in Korea, which is 13.6% points higher than five years ago. This is lower than the United States (59.3%) and Japan (140.9%), but higher than China (35.5%) and Indonesia (19.5%). Thus there are concerns that future economic activities will shrink.