The employment rate of senior citizens increased from 30 percent in 2012 to over 36 percent over the past decade.

According to the Korea Employment Information Service on Sunday, the employment rate of people aged 65 and older steadily increased from 30-point-one percent in 2022 to 36-point-two percent in 2022.

The service said that the number of employed people in the age group stood at three-point-36 million last year, posting an annual average growth of nine percent over the past five years.

The figure marks a stark contrast to the annual growth of zero-point-nine percent for the overall number of employed people during the period.

In particular, the number of employed people among those aged 80 and older increased by an annual average of 16-point-five percent from 204-thousand to 376-thousand during the period.

Survey findings from last year showed that a majority of the employed people aged 65 to 79 said they work because they need money or it helps with living expenses, while eight percent said they want to work as long as their health permits.

The average wage of the elderly tends to decrease with age. Seniors aged 65 to 69 earned about one million won per month on average, while those aged 70 to 74 earned 700-thouand won and those aged 75 to 79 took home 370-thousand won. Those aged 80 and older earned 230-thousand won per month on average.