ANDYLISM Business Insight

 South Korea built one of the world’s most successful economies with a remarkably large, educated and disciplined workforce. That workforce is now beginning to shrink. The country’s working-age population aged 15 to 64 declined from approximately 36.64 million in 2020 to 35.62 million in 2024. This means South Korea lost more than one million working-age residents in just four years. The decline is only beginning. AI generated image OECD projections indicate that South Korea could experience the largest reduction in its working-age population among member countries over the coming decades. The population aged 20 to 64 is projected to fall by approximately 49%, while the OECD average decline is expected to be far smaller. This demographic transformation is often explained with one familiar statistic: South Korea has one of the world’s lowest fertility rates. But the labor problem is more complicated than simply having fewer babies. South Korea is simultaneously experiencing five str...

  For years, South Korea’s falling birth rate appeared to be moving in only one direction. Then the numbers began to improve. In 2025, the country recorded approximately 254,500 births , an increase of 16,100, or 6.8 percent, from the previous year. Births of first children rose particularly strongly, while fertility increased across all maternal age groups. At first glance, this looks like an important turning point for a country that has become a global symbol of ultra-low fertility. But one year of improvement does not mean South Korea’s demographic crisis has been solved. The more important question is not simply whether more babies were born. It is whether the economic and social conditions that discouraged young Koreans from marriage and parenthood have fundamentally changed. AI generated image Why the recent increase matters South Korea’s birth-rate rebound should not be dismissed. A sustained increase in births could signal that more couples are moving forward with...