Foreigners to make up 10 pct of Korea's population in 2050: report

SEOUL, Sept. 3 (Yonhap) -- Foreigners will account for around 10 percent of South Korea's population in 2050 due to the country's declining birth rate and an increasing influx of people from abroad, a report said Thursday.

According to the report by the Korea Research Institute of Human Settlements, the
number of foreign residents will amount to 4.09 million in 2050, making up 9.8
percent of South Korea's total population.
The number of foreigners exceeded 1 million in 2007, marking a nearly four-fold
increase over the past 10 years. The number is expected to reach 2.54 million in
2020 before exceeding the 4 million mark a decade later, the report showed.
The increasing ratio of foreign residents to Korean nationals comes amid a
fast-aging population caused largely by a declining birth rate, according to the
report.
The number of childbirths per year is expected to decline to 193,000 in 2050 from
an estimated 435,000 in 2010. Based on these figures, senior citizens will
account for 38.2 percent of the nation's total population, the report showed.
Along with the change in demographics, South Korea will also see a dramatic
change in its climate as well over the next century.
Average temperatures are expected to rise by 4 degrees Celsius over the next 100
years, while the amount of annual precipitation will rise 17 percent over the
cited period, according to the report.
kokobj@yna.co.kr
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