The country’s working-age population will likely plunge nearly ten million or by more than 25 percent in the next 20 years amid record low birth rates. 

The Korean Peninsula Population Institute for the Future disclosed its bleak projection in a report on Monday, saying that the number of people aged 15 to 64, which stood at 36-point-57 million in 2023, will likely fall to 27-point-17 million in 2044.

The report said half of the country’s population will be aged over 50 by 2031 and the number of elementary school freshmen will halve to 220-thousand in 2033 from 430-thousand in 2023. 

Military manpower is also expected to plunge, with the number of 20-year-old men forecast to fall below 200-thousand to around 190-thousand by 2038 from 260-thousand in 2023.

The percentage of single-person households with people aged 65 and older is projected to rise from nine-point-one percent in 2023 to 20-point-two percent in 2049 and 40 percent in 2050. 

The number of deaths is expected to reach 746-thousand 2060, four-point-eight times the number of births, leading to a natural population decline of 590-thousand.