Population aging and senior poverty keep seniors in the workforce longer
The number of workers aged 70 and older reached 2.16 million in 2025, up 9.2 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday.
Seniors accounted for 7.1 percent of the country’s total employed population of 28.209 million. It is the first time working seniors have exceeded the 2-million mark since the agency began publishing employment statistics for people aged 70 and older in 2018, when the number stood at 1.21 million.
After surpassing 1.5 million in 2021, the workforce in the age group continued to grow by 7-9 percent annually.
The growth was more pronounced among men, whose employment rose 9.6 percent year-on-year to 1.11 million, compared with 8.7 percent among women in the same age group, who numbered 1.04 million.
The aging of the workforce was also evident among people in their 50s and 60s. While employment among workers in their 60s and older rose 5.3 percent to 6.83 million, the number of workers in their 50s fell 0.4 percent to 6.67 million.
The trend is largely connected to population aging and the expansion of employment programs for seniors.
The population aged 70 and older reached 6.82 million in 2025, up 36 percent from 5.02 million in 2018.
Some experts argue that senior poverty is forcing many older adults to remain in the workforce beyond retirement age.
“Seniors today are much healthier than those of previous generations, which may be one reason more seniors are staying in the workforce. But Korea still ranks first among OECD countries, meaning many older adults cannot afford to stop working,” said Chung Soon-dool, a professor at Ewha Womans University.
The income poverty rate among Koreans aged 66 and older stood at 39.7 percent, the highest among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and more than double the organization’s average of 14.8 percent.
“The basic pension should be more focused on low-income seniors, and employment opportunities for older adults should be expanded further, including in the private sector,” she added.
cjh@heraldcorp.com
