Half of South Korea’s Farm and Fishing Households Are 65 or Older, Census Finds

The year’s first rice planting is underway in a paddy in Gwang-ri, Seobu-myeon, Hongseong County, South Chungcheong Province. [Photo=Hongseong County]

More than half of South Korea’s farm, forestry and fishing population is now 65 or older, while household size continues to shrink rapidly.

According to the National Data Center’s provisional results of the “2025 Census of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries” released on the 28th, the farm, forestry and fishing population totaled 2,576,000 as of last December, with 1,276,000 households.

That compares with about 2.31 million people and 1.18 million households in the 2020 survey — increases of 266,000 people and 96,000 households.

The report said the rise reflects broader statistical coverage as more administrative records — including farmland ledgers, fisheries registration lists and forestry management entities — were added to the survey, along with growth in return-to-farm and return-to-rural moves.

The share of residents ages 65 and older rose to 51.0% in 2025 from 42.5% in 2020, up 8.5 percentage points. Aging was most pronounced among fishing households: 59.6% were 65 or older, compared with 52.6% for farming households and 47.8% for forestry households.

Those 70 and older accounted for 34.5% in 2025, up from 26.7% in 2020, while the share under 40 fell to 6.4% from 9.3%. The median age was 65.3, nearly 20 years higher than the overall population’s 46.7.

Smaller households became more common. One-person households rose to 27.2% in 2025 from 20.0% in 2020, up 7.2 points. Households of three or more fell to 19.0% from 33.8%, down 14.8 points. Two-person households were the largest group at 53.8%, putting one- and two-person households at more than 80% of the total.

Average household size slipped to 2.0 people in 2025 from 2.2 in 2020, reflecting growth in older people living alone and elderly couples, the report said.

By residence type, the share living in “dong” neighborhoods rose to 32.4% in 2025 from 27.0% in 2020. The share in “eup” and “myeon” areas fell to 67.6% from 73.0%, down 5.4 points, a shift the report attributed to moves toward areas with better access to medical care, transportation and education.

* This article has been translated by AI.

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