Interior ministry publishes yearbook tracking heat and demographic shifts

The interior ministry said Tuesday its 2026 annual statistical yearbook showed cooling shelters increased to 62,508 in 2025 from 54,327 a year earlier, as major cities endured another year of sustained heat waves.

Average heat-wave days in major cities reached 29.7 in 2025, after averaging 30 in 2024. The shelters are designated to give vulnerable residents a nearby refuge from extreme heat.

Senior-protection zones increased 68.8 percent from 2,673 in 2021 to 4,511 in 2025. The number of one-person households headed by people in their 70s or older rose 26.1 percent to 2,218,764 over the same period.

"The 2026 annual statistical yearbook is a record that allows us to see changes in our society through data and a starting point for policy," Yoon Ho-joong, minister of interior and safety, said. "We will closely examine the changes indicated by the numbers, verify them in the field and turn them into policies people can feel."

Registered population stood at 51,117,378 at the end of 2025, down 99,843 from a year earlier and falling for a sixth consecutive year after its 2019 peak. Total households reached 24,300,087, while one-person households numbered 10,272,573, or 42.3 percent of all households.

The hometown-love donation program had 1,391,850 donations in 2025, up 79.9 percent from a year earlier. The yearbook also recorded 1,727 village enterprises, which created 3,250 jobs.

Public data releases rose 10.3 percent to 107,901 in 2025, while private-sector downloads and use applications totaled about 94.59 million, up 24.8 percent. Places accepting mobile identification increased by 139 to 322, led by public online services, which grew from 33 to 136.