State data shows that South Korean senior citizens' poverty rate was the highest among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

According to Statistics Korea on Monday, the relative poverty rate of Koreans aged 66 and older stood at 43-point-two percent in 2019, the highest rate among OECD members.

South Korea was the only OECD country that surpassed 40 percent.

The rate refers to the percentage of people with income below 50 percent of the median income. The 2019 data means that income of four out of ten senior Korean citizens was below 50 percent of the median level.  

The rate for Estonia and Latvia was in the 30 percent range, while that for Australia, the United States and Japan was in the 20 percent range. 

Meanwhile, more senior citizens were making their own living expenses. 

As of 2021, among seniors aged 65 and older, 65 percent of the seniors or their spouses were making their own living expenses, up 13-point-four percentage points from a decade ago.