Background: There has been a rapid increase in the older adults population due to increased life expectancy and healthy life expectancy, resulting in growing societal attention toward and policy intervention for healthcare services and expenditures among the older adults. Korea is anticipated to become an super-aged society by 2025. Therefore, Korea’s healthcare system’s response to the aging population is becoming increasingly important.
Methods: We analyze the indicators from the OECD (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development) Health at Glance published between 2001 and 2023, particularly on four areas directly affecting an individual’s health—health status, risk factors for health, access, and quality of care. From the four domains to study historical trends through 2022 (or the most recent year available), we select the nine longest-standing indicators and then forecast from 2022 to 2032.
Results: The period of population aging is divided into 2000–2016 (aging society) and 2017–present (aged society). The trend shows an increase in life expectancy, number of outpatient visits, and ALOS (average length of stay) over the years, and this trend is expected to continue in the future. Moreover, the proportion of people with good health and an ischemic stroke mortality rate is expected to improve; meanwhile, the proportion of overweight and obese people is expected to grow at a rapid pace.
Conclusion: Societies must focus on the sustainability of healthcare systems because healthcare demand is expected to rise with an aging population. Meanwhile, practical policy measures, such as obesity control, need to be implemented to promote health. Furthermore, a comprehensive healthcare system that ensures quality services for older people with high health needs must be established.

Keywords: Aging; Healthcare system; Statistics; OECD