North Korea’s population crisis warning signs

North Korea’s government has reportedly established new senior centers, in what appears to be a response to the country’s rising elderly population.

Why It Matters

North Korea has not carried out a census since 2008, and information is tightly controlled by the Kim Jong Un regime. Nevertheless, the country of 26.5 million is believed to be facing a stark demographic outlook.

While many other countries are grappling with an aging workforce and declining birth rates, these challenges are especially acute for North Korea, where roughly 60 percent of the population is believed to live below the poverty line and social safety nets have collapsed.

Newsweek reached out by email to the North Korean Embassy in Beijing for comment.

What To Know

A third senior center reportedly opened several months ago in Pyongyang’s Hwasong District, per Chosun Sinbo, a North Korean-aligned newspaper based in Japan, which said the site has become “an essential part of daily life for elderly residents in this area.”

According to North Korean government portal Naenara, the latest center is said to offer a range of services, from therapeutic exercise and spa treatments to sports facilities.

As is often the case with major state initiatives, these centers appear concentrated in the capital, with no similar facilities reported outside Pyongyang. South Korean news agency Chosun Daily called them a “propaganda project” aimed at social cohesion and burnishing the country’s international reputation.

Retirees are entitled to modest monthly pensions and food stipends after the age of 60 for men and 55 for women if they have worked continuously for a set period. Due to a lack of state funds, however, these have failed to materialize, forcing many seniors still able to work to join the country’s informal markets, according to accounts by North Korean defectors to the South.

The United Nations Population Division has estimated that about 12 percent of North Koreans are aged 65 or older. The U.N. defines a society as “aged” when this figure reaches 14 percent. North Korea does not regularly publish demographic figures, so analysts must extrapolate from past censuses and indirect surveys.

While North Korea has aged at a slower rate than that of South Korea—a “super-aged” society with one-fifth of its population over 65—Pyongyang lacks the automation and industrial capacity of wealthier countries due to international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs.

Adding to the demographic challenge is a falling fertility rate. U.N. estimates put North Korea’s fertility rate at around 1.8 births per woman—below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to sustain a population without significant immigration.

The issue appears to be a major concern for Kim. At a December 2023 event covered by state TV honoring mothers, the supreme leader made a tearful appeal to mothers to give birth to more children and help “carry forward our revolution.”

Radio Free Asia cited sources inside the country last year who said the regime had begun cracking down on black market contraceptive vendors and on doctors performing illegal abortions.

What People Are Saying

Naenara, North Korea’s external media portal wrote in an October 1 article marking the International Day of Older Persons: “In the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] it is one of the important policies for the state to carry responsibility for the health and living of the older people and take good care of them, systematically increasing the investment in elderly care and providing them with a civilized and happy life.”

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is North Korea’s official name.

What Happens Next

Top North Korean officials are expected to convene early next year for the Ninth People’s Congress, where they will lay out the country’s economic agenda for the next five years. It remains to be seen whether new support for the elderly will be announced during those meetings.