▲ An elderly person is looking for a job at the Seoul Seobu Employment Welfare Plus Center in Mapo-gu, Seoul. (Photo: Yonhap News)
The number of working seniors aged 55 to 79 has surpassed 10 million for the first time since related statistics began to be compiled.
Seven out of ten elderly people expressed their desire to continue working past the average age of 73.
More than half cited supplementing living expenses as the reason, while nearly four out of ten answered the joy of working.
Statistics Korea released these findings today in its May 2026 Economical Activity Population Survey Supplementary Survey on the Elderly.
In this survey, the elderly are classified as those aged 55 and older, considering the minimum age criteria for elderly support under relevant laws.
◇ Elderly Employed Population Surges 1.5 Times in a Decade... Average Tenure Increases to 17 Years and 7 Months
According to Statistics Korea, the population aged 55 to 79 stood at 17,017,000 as of May this year, an increase of 570,000 from a year earlier.
Among them, the economically active population (the employed plus the unemployed) reached 10,362,000, up 352,000.
The number of employed people increased by 345,000 to 10,125,000.
This is the first time the figure has exceeded 10 million since relevant statistics began to be compiled in 2005.
It has grown about 1.5 times over a decade from 6,715,000 in 2016.
The labor force participation rate and employment rate for the elderly stood at 60.9% and 59.5%, respectively, remaining at the same levels as last year when they recorded all-time highs.
As the number of working seniors increases, a trend of staying longer at the same workplace was also identified.
Among those who have had work experience at least once in their lives, the proportion of people still working at the job where they worked the longest was 30.5%, up 0.4 percentage points from last year.
The average tenure at the job where they worked the longest was 17 years and 7.1 months, an increase of 0.5 months from a year ago.
By gender, men averaged 21 years and 8.6 months, while women averaged 13 years and 7.1 months.
Looking at the composition by tenure, 10 to less than 20 years (28.7%) ranked first, followed by 30 years or more (22.5%), and 20 to less than 30 years (19.9%).
Only the proportion of those with 10 to less than 20 years fell by 0.2 percentage points compared to a year ago.
The average age at which people left their longest-held jobs was 53.0 years old, 0.1 year higher than last year.
The most common reasons for leaving were business sluggishness, suspension of operations, or closure (24.9%), followed by poor health (22.1%), and taking care of family (15.2%).
◇ 7 Out of 10 Want to Keep Working... Average Monthly Pension Payout Stands at 880,000 Won
Elderly people who wish to work in the future totaled 11,782,000, an increase of 361,000 over a year.
The proportion of those hoping to work in the future stands at 69.2%.
Although it fell 0.2 percentage points from last year's record high, it marks the second-highest level ever.
The average age at which they hope to work (desired retirement age) is 73.6 years old, up 0.2 years from a year ago.
Supplementing living expenses (53.4%) was by far the largest reason cited for wanting to work.
While still accounting for a majority, it dropped 1.0 percentage point compared to last year.
This continues a downward trend since 2019 (60.2%).
The joy of working (36.7%), which followed behind, rose by 0.6 percentage points.
This marks five consecutive years of increase since 2021 (33.1%).
Meanwhile, pension payout amounts were found to still fall short of the minimum cost of living.
The proportion of elderly individuals who received a pension over the past year was 52.7% (8,969,000 people), up 1.0 percentage point from last year.
Although the average monthly pension payout increased by 2.1% to 880,000 won, it still fell far short of the minimum cost of living for a single-person household (1.54 million won).
Breaking down the payout amounts by bracket, 250,000 to less than 500,000 won (37.7%) was the most common, followed by 500,000 to less than 1 million won (33.2%), and 1.5 million won or more (15.9%).
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