<Anchor> This
is a friendly economic time.
Reporter Han Ji-yeon is here.
Is the total population of Korea declining for the first time since statistics were compiled?
<Reporter>
Yes, it can be said that the 'population cliff' has begun in earnest. As of November 1 of last year, the total population was 91,000 fewer than a year ago, and the total population of Korea was just under 51.74 million.
As a percentage, it has decreased by about 0.2%, although it may seem small, it is the first decrease in 72 years since the counting began in 1949, when the Korean government was established.
The average annual population growth rate also recorded negative for the first time.
In 1960, it continued to fall from 3%, and it was still positive until the last year, but recorded -0.2% last year, the first time the population itself had collapsed.
The natural decline in the population also had an impact, but a 2.7% decrease was also a factor as foreigners were unable to enter and leave the country due to the corona virus.
<Anchor>
Did you say that the number of single-person households last year was at an all-time high?
<Reporter>
Yes, it surpassed 7 million for the first time since 1980 when related counting began.
Now, the proportion of single-person households has risen to 33.5%, and one in three households has become a single-person household.
The number of single-person households increased by 7.9% from a year ago, or 528,000 households, and nearly doubled in 10 years to reach 7.166,000 households last year.
In particular, the number of single-person households for the elderly increased significantly, with the number of single-person households aged 65 or older reaching 1,824,000, an increase of nearly 10% from a year ago.
The number of two-person households also increased by 3.6% from the previous year, exceeding 6 million for the first time.
The combined proportion of single- and two-person households was 61.7%, suggesting that dinks living alone or without children became a more common household type.
On the other hand, the typical family form, where two children are born and four people live in Oh Soon-Do-Soon, is falling apart.
<Anchor>
Did the number of households living with friends or lovers rather than family members increase?
<Reporter>
Yes, I thought that the type of family could change a lot in the future, but the number of households living with friends or lovers who are not related by blood increased by 11.6%.
Have you ever seen a Japanese movie called <A Family> that was released in 2018?
You may be wondering why all of a sudden I'm talking about a movie, but first, let's listen to the lines from a scene in the movie.
[A child needs a mother.
(Does everyone become mothers when they give birth?)]
It's a line in the sense that even if you're not related by blood, you can become a family.
It's not just this movie, is it?
In the future, it seems that we have to think about it in reality.
The number of non-relative households in Korea reached 473,000, a record high in both the number of households and the extent of increase.
On the other hand, the number of relative households in which 'real' families live decreased by 0.4% from a year ago, and the proportion exceeded 70% until 2016, but fell to the 64% level last year.
<Anchor>
Seoul apartment prices fell this week?
<Reporter>
Yes, it has been on a downward trend for the ninth week in a row, and the decline has also increased.
The decline in Nowon, Dobong, and Gangbuk-gu, the so-called 'Nodo River', was remarkable.
The Gangnam area has a small drop, but it is bearish except for Seocho-gu. Gangnam-gu fell 0.02% last week, followed by a 0.01% drop this week, and Songpa-gu doubled and fell by 0.04%.
Yongsan-gu, which had good news for the re-promotion of international business district development, also fell.
Gyeonggi and Incheon also increased the decline to 0.08%, and the decline in apartment prices in the metropolitan area was the largest in three years and three months since the 2019 survey.