The Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry forecasts that South Korea’s economy will enter a “demographic onus” era starting from next year.
 
The chamber made the projection on Sunday after analyzing Statistics Korea data.
 
According to the chamber, South Korea’s working-age population, or people between the ages of 15 and 64, will slip from this year’s 37-point-04 million to 37-point-02 million next year.
 
The chamber forecasts that such a decline will continue through 2040.
 
The chamber added that similar declines would signify that South Korea will enter a period of “demographic onus,” which refers to the phenomenon in which economic growth slows down due to the decline in the working-age population. The opposite concept of “demographic onus” is “demographic bonus.”
 
The chamber projected that in 2017, South Korea will become an aged society with more than 14 percent of the nation’s population set to be 65 years or older. By 2026, the chamber forecasts that the nation will become a super aged society with people aged 65 or older set to take up more than 20 percent of the total population.