The proportion of people in their 60s and older increased from 29% to 35% in 5 years... Driven into 'petty theft' due to hardships in life

The proportion of people in their 60s and older increased from 29% to 35% in 5 years... Driven into 'petty theft' due to hardships in life

(Suwon = Yonhap News) Reporter Kim Ji-won = Last year, more than 7 out of 10 theft suspects aged 65 or older were unemployed. As we enter a super-aging society where the elderly population exceeds 20%, attention is also focused on the impact of poverty among the elderly on theft crimes.

According to Yonhap News coverage on the 26th, in the '2025 Crime Statistics' recently announced by the National Police Agency, the proportion of people in their 60s or older among all criminal suspects last year was 19.3%.

The proportion of suspects in their 60s or older increased for five consecutive years from 14.7% in 2021 to 15.5% in 2022, 17.0% in 2023, and 18.8% in 2024 until last year.

This trend was especially evident in theft crimes.

Among all theft suspects, the proportion of people in their 60s or older has increased every year from 29.1% in 2021 to 30.4% in 2022, 30.8% in 2023, 33.9% in 2024, and 34.9% last year.

Last year, more than one in three theft suspects was over 60, the highest rate among all age groups. This was followed by people in their 50s (15.6%) and teenagers (15.4%).

Analysis suggests that hardship in living, such as unemployment and poverty among the elderly, is one of the factors influencing the increase in theft crimes against the elderly.

Police statistics support this, showing that among the 26,521 theft suspects over the age of 65 last year, 19,407 (73.2%) were unemployed.

Last January, in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, a man in his 70s was caught by the police after stealing two loaves of bread from a bakery. It was revealed that he lived homeless for about three months because he could not pay his rent, and that he stole ramen and bread from convenience stores, supermarkets, and bakeries because he could not bear the hunger.

In the same month, in Changwon, Gyeongsangnam-do, a woman in her 70s was booked on charges of theft after trying to raise living expenses by taking three bags containing clothing from the hallway of her villa and selling them to a junk shop.

Experts point out that there is a need to increase social interest in poverty among the elderly in order to reduce livelihood crimes among the elderly.

Lee Geon-soo, a professor of police administration at Baekseok University, said, "Theft crimes among the elderly are often influenced by livelihood issues such as economic difficulties, and unemployment among the elderly is also one of the major factors. As the elderly population increases, crimes against the elderly are expected to continue to increase, so there is a need to build a tight social safety net to prevent them from falling into crime."