By Yoon Ja-young
Staff Reporter
It cost an average of 3,364 won to enjoy a cup of coffee at a coffee house last year. How much do you think it cost in 1965? Back then, one needed an average of 30 won, which means coffee prices have risen 112.1 times in 43 years.
Statistics Korea released data showing how Korea has changed during the past 50 years ― and they showed especially steep inflation.
A bowl of jajangmyeon, noodles in black bean sauce, for example, was only 35 won in 1965, but rose to 3,773 won last year, growing by 107.8 times. Consumer prices are 31.3 times higher than 1965, on average, according to the statistics agency, though inflation recently slowed down to below an annual 5 percent upon low economic growth rate and the opening of the agricultural market.
Economic Development
The statistics showed Korea's miraculous economic development. The country's gross domestic product (GDP) marked 1,023.9 trillion won in 2008, swelling by 370 times from 1970 on increasing production in IT and auto industries. It is the fifth largest carmaker in the world, producing 3.8 million cars and exporting 2.7 million last year.
The per capita gross national income (GNI), which stood at mere $254 in 1970, breached $1,000 in 1980. It has marked explosive growth since then, recording $19,231 in 2008. It is now the 14th largest economy in the world, and the fourth largest in Asia.
Aging Society
It reported that the country is getting older. The ratio of the elderly citizens aged 75 or older soared by 17 times from 1960. They take up 3.9 percent of the population, compared with a mere 0.4 percent in 1960.
Adolescents under the age of 15, meanwhile, only accounted for 16.8 percent of the population this year, falling from 25.5 percent in 1960.
The birthrate, or the number of babies born per woman, averaged 1.19 last year, compared with an average of six in 1960.
Koreans are also living longer than before. The average life span of a Korean man was 76.13 in 2007, 25 years more than in 1960. Women lived to 82.73 years on average, 29 years longer than in 1960.
Marriage Culture
On average Korean men married at the age of 27.8 in 1990. Last year, the average age of grooms was 31.4. For brides, it was 24.8 in 1990, and 28.3 last year. In 1990, 82.2 percent of grooms got married to brides younger than themselves. Last year, however, the ratio dropped to 70.4 percent, with women increasingly choosing younger mates.
Intercultural marriages also soared from less than 2 percent of total marriages each year between 1990 and 1994 to 13.6 percent in 2005.
Near half of these marriages were between Korean men and Chinese women, followed by women from Vietnam at 29.4 percent, the Philippines at 6.6 percent, and Japan at 4.1 percent.
Koreans are also getting taller. The average height of high school senior boys was 173.9 centimeters in 2007, 8 centimeters taller than the 1970 average. Girls from the same age group were 160.9 centimeters tall in 2007, 4.4 centimeters taller than the 1970 average.
chizpizza@koreatimes.co.kr
