The number of senior citizens living alone surged nearly 36 percent over the past five years as South Korea is becoming an aged society. 

According to the 2020 census data by Statistics Korea, one-point-66 million people aged 65 and older lived alone in 2020, up 35-point-eight percent from 2015. 

The figure accounted for 21-point-two percent of seven-point-84 million household members aged 65 and older. 

It means one out of five seniors in the age group live by themselves.

About two-point-eight million seniors, or one third of the age group lived with their spouse without children, while one-point-four million or 18 percent lived with their spouse and children. 

The number of seniors living alone aged 80 and older jumped over 50 percent during the cited period to 470-thousand last year.