South Korea's youth population falls to 20% as suicide rate hits high

Dec. 16 (Asia Today) -- South Korea's youth population has continued to shrink for more than two decades, with people ages 19 to 34 now accounting for about one-fifth of the country's total population, while the youth suicide rate rose to its highest level in 13 years, a government-affiliated report showed Tuesday.

The National Statistical Research Institute, under the National Data Service, released its "Youth Quality of Life 2025" indicators report, which said the youth population ages 19-34 stood at 10.404 million last year, down from 12.883 million in 2000.

The report said the youth share of the total population has steadily declined, falling from 28.0% in 2000 to 22.9% in 2010 and 21.1% in 2020, reaching 20.1% last year.

The proportion of young people living alone reached a record high of 25.8% last year, meaning about one in four youth households consisted of a single person. That figure has risen from 6.7% in2000 to 15.3% in 2015 and 20.5% in 2020, the report said.

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Marriage patterns also shifted sharply, with a growing share of young adults remaining unmarried. Among those ages 25 to 29, the unmarried rate was 95.0% for men and 89.2% for women last year, up 24.0 and 49.1percentage points, respectively, compared with 2000. Among those ages 30 to 34, the unmarried rate was 74.7% for men and 58.0% for women, up 46.6 and 47.3 percentage points, respectively, over the same period.

On health trends, the report said physical activity rates have increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. As of 2023, the physical activity rate was 66.2% for those ages 19-29 and 58.0% for those ages 30-39. The obesity rate was highest among men ages 30-39, at 50.4% in 2023.

The share of young people reporting burnout also declined, with the burnout experience rate at 32.2% last year, down 1.7 percentage points from 2020, the report said.

However, the youth suicide rate rose to 24.4 per 100,000 people, up 1.3 from the previous year, marking the highest level since 2011, according to the report. The rate for men was 29.5 per 100,000, higher than the rate for women at 18.8.

The report said perceptions of the future have worsened. The share of respondents who said their desired future was "completely unattainable" rose from 5.23% in 2022 to 7.62% last year, with the highest level among those ages 30-34 at 9.42%.

In an OECD comparison, the report said life satisfaction among South Korean youth ages 15-29 was 6.5, ranking 31st out of 38 countries, below the OECD average of 6.8.

- Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

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