South Korea: New Labor Statistics Show Aging of Workforce

According to an article by Kim Sung-jin in The Korea Times, Korea's The National Statistical Office (NSO) said on January 23 that the number of 40-49 year old workers outstripped the working population aged between 30 and 39 years olds for the first time ever.

"The age of the newly employed in Korea’s manufacturing industry averaged 37.6 years in 2004 and would grow to 50 years by 2030 due to the rapidly aging trend and low birthrate of the Korean society," said LG Economic Research Institute (LGERI) vice president and economy research division chief Oh Moon-suk.

"Such trends call for urgent research into ways to raise the productivity of elderly citizens to tackle the declining potential economic growth rate problem in the short-term, and reinvigorate the birthrate to cope with the problem in the long-term," Oh said.

LGERI has suggested that adoption of a wage peak system and extending the retirement age could help the elderly from remaining economically inactive.

Source: "40-Somethings Emerge as Key Workforce" The Korea Times (January 23, 2006)