The proportion of seniors among overseas Koreans has reached 25 percent for the first time.

According to data from the interior ministry on Saturday, out of approximately 89-thousand overseas Koreans maintaining South Korean nationality as of December, 25 percent were aged 65 or older, up zero-point-one percentage point from the previous month.

That figure is the highest since the ministry began including overseas Koreans in its population data in January 2015.

People aged 65 and older accounted for 20-point-two percent of overseas Koreans in 2021, three years before South Korea hit the 20 percent mark and officially became a super-aged society.

Lim Dong-jin, head of the Korean Association for Immigration Policy and Administration, attributed the trend to an increase in emigration among retirees.

Hanyang Cyber University professor Koo Hye-young advised the government to look into establishing customized policies for older people living overseas, in accordance with their countries of residence.