SEOUL, April 17 (Xinhua) -- The number of farming households in South Korea stayed below 1 million for the second straight year in 2024, statistical office data showed Thursday.

The number of farming families declined 2.5 percent from a year earlier to 974,000 in December 2024 after recording 999,000 in the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.

It hovered below 1 million for two consecutive years for the first time since relevant data began to be compiled in 1949.

Farming households had been on the decline in recent years as the rapidly aging population encouraged more farmers to quit farming.

The proportion of farming households to the country's total households stood at 4.4 percent in December last year, down 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

The population of farming families retreated 4.1 percent to 2,004,000 in the cited period, accounting for 3.9 percent of the total population.

Of the total farming family members, the highest share of 39.2 percent was those in their 70s or older, followed by those in their 60s with 30.5 percent and those in their 50s with 14.0 percent.

Two-member households took up the largest share of 57.8 percent of the total farming families, trailed by single-member households with 23.6 percent.

The number of fishing households reduced 2.1 percent over the year to 40,900 in December 2024, while the number in the forestry sector decreased 1.2 percent to 98,000. Enditem

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