SEOUL, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's live-alone elderly rate rose last year on the rapidly growing elderly people, statistical office data showed Monday.

The live-alone elderly rate, or the ratio of single elderly households to the total population aged 65 or higher, stood at 20.8 percent in 2022, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

It continued to increase from 16.0 percent in 2000 to 18.5 percent in 2010 and 19.8 percent in 2020.

The statistical agency said the single elderly households were especially a vulnerable age group in South Korea that failed to advance a social security system for the elderly, noting that attention should be paid in various aspects to the elderly living alone who felt lonelier or more depressed without a family to live with.

The single elderly households had expanded faster than the elderly population for the past two decades.

The number of single elderly households gained about 3.5 times from 543,000 in 2000 to 1,875,000 in 2022, while the reading for those aged 65 or higher added some 2.7 times from 3,394,000 to 9,018,000 in the cited period.

The country's life expectancy was 83.6 years in 2021, up 0.1 year from the previous year.

It kept rising from 76.0 years in 2000 to 80.2 years in 2010 and 83.5 years in 2020.

South Korean women were expected to live 86.6 years on average in 2021, six years longer than the life expectancy for men. Enditem

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