South Korea's relative poverty rate for people aged 66 and older remains the highest among OECD member countries, even as the share of elderly in the total population has passed 20%. Still, rising employment and retirement preparation among older adults suggest the rate could ease in the years ahead.
The relative poverty rate for the retirement-age population of 66 and older stood at 37.7% in 2024, down 2.1 percentage points from a year earlier, according to the 2026 Statistics on the Elderly released on the 1st by Statistics Korea.
The relative poverty rate measures the share of people whose income falls below 50% of the median.
Income distribution indicators also improved. The Gini coefficient fell to 0.377, and the income quintile share ratio narrowed to 6.9 times. A Gini coefficient closer to zero indicates more equal income distribution, while a lower quintile ratio points to a smaller income gap.
Better income conditions among older adults also contributed to the decline in the poverty rate.
Over the past decade, the share of older adults who cover living expenses themselves or through a spouse rose 16.2 percentage points, from 58.5% in 2015 to 74.7% in 2025. Net assets of households headed by someone aged 65 or older stood at 492.79 million won as of last year, up 26.85 million won from a year earlier.
The employment rate for older adults has also climbed steadily. For those aged 65 and over, it reached 39.5% in 2025, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier and marking continuous gains over the decade from 30.4% in 2015.
By industry, business, personal and public services and other fields accounted for the largest share at 46.7%. Government programs creating jobs for older adults are seen as a factor behind the expansion in elderly employment.
More older adults also want to keep working. Among those aged 65 to 79, 58.7% said they wanted to continue working, up 1.1 percentage points from a year earlier.
Asked why, 50.4% cited help with living expenses, the most common answer, followed by 38.7% who pointed to the enjoyment of working.
The number of older adults preparing for retirement is also rising. Last year, 64.4% said they were preparing for their later years, up 17.5 percentage points from a decade earlier. The share saying they were not preparing fell by the same margin over the period, from 53.1% to 35.6%.
By international comparison, however, poverty among South Korea's older population remains severe.
Based on 2023 figures, the latest available for comparison, the relative poverty rate for South Korea's retirement-age population was 39.8%, the highest among OECD members. The rate was 10.1% in Canada, 6.2% in France, 14.5% in Germany, 15.0% in Britain and 13.1% in Spain. Latvia, at 34.3%, was the only other member above 30%.
"There is room for the relative poverty rate among older people to fall, assuming the government maintains its job programs for the elderly," an official at Statistics Korea said. "Attitudes toward retirement preparation among older adults are also changing."
The report also released indicators on social relationships and leisure among older adults.
As of last year, 72.5% of older adults said they had someone to ask for help with household chores when ill, and 71.3% said they had someone to turn to when feeling depressed. Both figures were slightly lower than a decade earlier.
Some 43.4% said they felt lonely, 5.1 percentage points higher than the figure for all age groups.
For weekend leisure, watching videos was the most common activity at 80.3%, followed by resting at 78.4%. The share satisfied with their leisure activities was 27.1%, up 10.5 percentage points from a decade earlier, while the share dissatisfied fell 6.7 percentage points to 22.4%.
