|
|
|
One-third of people in farming communities over 65: report
SEOUL, March 9 (Yonhap) -- A third of South Koreans living in agricultural communities are aged 65 or older, highlighting the rapid aging taking place among South Korea's farming sector, a government report said Tuesday.
The report by Statistics Korea said 34.2 percent of all rural residents can be classified as senior citizens, up 0.9 percentage point from 33.3 percent tallied the previous year.
The ratio is far higher than the figure for the entire country. Nationwide, 10.7 percent of the population are classified as senior citizens.
"The demographics showed that there was a slight dip in the number of people under 69 while that of people aged 70 or older moved up 3.6 percent, indicating that the overall aging of farming communities will continue," an official said.
The latest report also said that a quarter of people living in fishing communities were over 65 years old.
The state statistical office, meanwhile, said that as of Dec. 1, 2009 there were 3.11 million people engaged in farming, equal to 6.4 percent of the total population and down 2.2 percent from a year ago.
yonngong@yna.co.kr
(END)
|
| |
|
|
Home
