SEOUL - South Korea's elderly population rate surpassed 20 percent for the first time this year, becoming a super-aged society, statistical office data showed Monday.

The number of South Koreans aged 65 or older totaled 10,514,000 in 2025, accounting for 20.3 percent of the total population, according to Statistics Korea.

The aged population rate was forecast to exceed 30 percent in 2036 and 40 percent in 2050.

READ MORE: S. Korea's population aged 65 and older tops 10 million

According to the UN definition, an aging society is a country with the elderly population rate of over 7 percent, an aged society with the rate of over 14 percent and a super-aged society with the rate of over 20 percent.

The old-age dependency ratio, or the proportion of the elderly population to the working-age population aged 15-64, was expected to rise from 29.3 in 2025 to 47.7 in 2035 and 77.3 in 2050.

The aged population rate for women reached 22.6 percent this year, higher than the rate of 18.0 percent for men.

The number of households with householders aged 65 or older stood at 6,187,000 in 2025, taking up 27.6 percent of the total households.

READ MORE: South Korea's total population rises for 2nd year in 2024

The elderly household ratio was projected to increase to 41.3 percent in 2038 and 50.6 percent in 2052.