Photo: High-rises at the Haeundae Beach, Busan. Credit: Public domain.
Low birth rates and ongoing urbanization have emptied out South Korea’s rural areas. (See previous coverage, “Rural Extinction.”) But even South Korea’s largest urban areas are not immune to the same demographic forces. A new study by Korea Employment Information Service 한국고용정보원 found that Busan 부산 has become South Korea’s first major city with over 20% of the population - 23% - aged 65 or older.
South Korea’s second largest city has been undergoing an exodus of young women of child-bearing age: its population of women aged between 20 and 39 fell by 11% over the past seven years. Busan’s extinction risk index 소멸위험지수, a figure calculated by dividing the number of citizens aged 65 or older by the number of women aged 20 to 39, was 0.49, the lowest among South Korea’s seven major cities. The outflow of younger workers is already straining the local economy: the number of small businesses in Busan declined by 11% year-over-year in Q1 2024.