The ministry said some 9.12 million people aged 65 and older received at least one of about a dozen types of public and private pensions. But despite more than 90 percent of the elderly population being covered by these pensions, up 0.3 percentage points from a year earlier, 878,000 people or 8.8 percent had no such income.
The average monthly payment remained only about half of the 1.34 million won minimum cost of living for a single-person household in 2024, though it rose by 42,000 won from a year earlier.
The median monthly pension payment was even lower at 497,000 won, with those receiving between 250,000 won and 500,000 won accounting for the largest share at 46.7 percent, followed by those receiving between 500,000 won and 1 million won at 33.8 percent.
Some 9.5 percent received between 1 million won and 2 million won, while 6.3 percent received 2 million won or more. Those receiving less than 250,000 won accounted for 3.6 percent, meaning that 50.3 percent of elderly pensioners received less than 500,000 won per month.
By pension type, state-funded pensions for financially vulnerable people and those with disabilities had the largest number of recipients at 6.76 million or 74.1 percent of all recipients.
They were followed by another state-run pension for ordinary salaried workers with 5.21 million recipients, similar pensions for civil servants, military personnel and private school employees with 595,000, individual private pensions with 496,000 and others.
Some 3.93 million people received pensions from two or more programs, accounting for 39.3 percent of those aged 65 and older. And homeowners generally received more pension income than those without homes, while men received considerably more than women, with male recipients receiving an average of 957,000 won per month, compared with 546,000 won for female recipients, reflecting differences in how much and how long they paid into pension programs during their working years.
"As men are more likely to participate in economic activity and remain employed longer, they tend to have higher pension coverage," a ministry spokesperson said.
AJP Takeaways
• South Korean pensioners aged 65 and older received an average of 737,000 won ($534) per month in 2024, up 6 percent from 2023, according to the Ministry of Data and Statistics.
• More than half of elderly pensioners received less than 500,000 won per month in 2024, with 50.3 percent falling below that amount and the median monthly pension payment standing at 497,000 won.
• Pension coverage among South Koreans aged 65 and older reached 91.2 percent in 2024, but 878,000 people, or 8.8 percent, had no pension income.
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