S. Korea's number of fertile women shrinks amid aging population

SEOUL, Oct. 13 (Yonhap) -- The number of women in South Korea grew over the past five years but those of childbearing age shrank amid worries over the nation's fast aging population, a report showed Thursday.
According to the report by Statistics Korea, the total number of women stood at 24.15 million as of November last year, up 2.4 percent from the 2005 count.
Over the same period, the number of fertile women aged 15-49 shrank 2.8 percent to 12.74 million. The decline is attributed to fast aging of the nation's population.
The median age of women was also up 3.3 years to 39.3. Those in their 60s and older accounted for 18 percent of the total female population, the report showed.
The report is based on data provided by the nationwide census conducted late last year by the statistics agency.
South Korea is fast becoming an aged society, in which more than 14 percent of the population is 65 or older. Korea became an aging society in 2000, when the ratio exceeded 7 percent.
Aging population and low birth rates are feared to hurt a nation's economy as they could put a drain on the government coffers by increasing expenses on health and welfare for senior citizens.