People aged 65 and older took up 18.4 percent of South Korea’s population this year, reflecting the rapidly aging demographic of Asia’s No. 4 economy, data showed.

The number of older adults stood at 9.5 million out of the country’s 51.5 million population this year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

South Korea is set to become a “superaged society” in 2025, in which the age group takes up 20 percent of the population.

The number is expected to continue to rise to reach 13 million in 2030, or 25.5 percent of the total population, and eventually to reach 17.4 million, or 46.4 percent in 2070.

The agency’s data also showed that the remaining life expectancy for those aged 65 was estimated at 19.3 years for men and 23.7 years for women. (Yonhap)