SEOUL, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- The South Korean elderly people's hiring rate rose over the past decade amid a rapidly aging population, statistical office data showed Tuesday.
The employment rate for those aged 65 or older stood at 36.2 percent in 2022, up 6.1 percentage points compared to the figure tallied 10 years earlier, according to Statistics Korea.
It was far higher than the elderly's average hiring rate of 15.0 percent in 2021 among 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
Among all elderly workers, 37.5 percent said they were in good health last year, higher than 21.9 percent for the elderly without jobs.
In 2021, 81.9 percent of the aged workers had no wish to live with children, while 68.1 percent said that they were preparing for after-retirement life.
The ratio of those aged 65 or higher to the country's total population was estimated to surge from 18.4 percent in 2023 to 30.1 percent in 2035, 40.1 percent in 2050, and 46.4 percent in 2070.
The net assets of households aged 65 or older came to 453.64 million won (335,000 U.S. dollars) in 2022, up by 43.16 million won (31,900 dollars) from the previous year. ■
