The number of dementia patients in Korea is expected to exceed 1 million by 2026 and 2 million by 2044. The cost of dementia care was expected to be 17.33 million won per person in the community and 31.38 million won per person in facilities and hospitals.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said the results of the 'Dementia Epidemiology Survey', which analyzed the prevalence of dementia and dementia-related risk factors, and the 'Dementia Actual Survey', which examined the level of care burden for dementia patients and their families and the social costs caused by dementia.

The 2023 Dementia Epidemiology Survey and Actual Survey, conducted from August 22, 2023 to March 18, 2024, consisted of a primary survey of 11,673 people aged 60 and over, a secondary survey of 1,900 people classified as at-risk by the primary survey, and a tertiary survey of 564 people with dementia and 359 caregivers.

The results showed that the prevalence of dementia among the elderly aged 65 and over in 2023 was 9.25 percent, a decrease of 0.25 percentage points from the prevalence of 9.5 percent in the 2016 epidemiological survey.

The health ministry attributed the change in dementia prevalence to the impact of the first baby boomers entering old age.

Since 2020, Korea's first baby boomers, those born in 1955, have reached the age of 65, increasing the number of people aged 65 and older by about 2.68 million compared to the 2016 epidemiological survey, and it is speculated that this demographic change may have contributed to the decrease in dementia prevalence.

In addition, the decrease in cardiovascular disease mortality, which is correlated with the incidence of dementia, may have contributed to the change in dementia prevalence.

On the other hand, the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment was 28.42 percent, an increase of 6.17 percentage points from 22.25 percent in the last epidemiologic survey in 2016.

The increase in the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment was attributed to the refinement of the diagnostic criteria for dementia and mild cognitive impairment, which enabled early diagnosis at the stage of mild cognitive impairment, and the activation of early dementia screening, which enabled diagnosis at a stage before deterioration into dementia.

As the population ages, the number of people with dementia and those diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment has continued to increase. In 2025, the number of people with dementia is estimated to be 970,000, and the number will exceed 1 million the following year. The number of people with dementia was projected to exceed 2 million by 2044.

The number of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment at high risk of dementia was projected to reach 2.98 million in 2025 and 4 million in 2033, compared to 2.36 million in 2025 and 4.03 million in 2040 in the 2016 epidemiologic survey, indicating that the number of people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment is growing rapidly.

The prevalence of dementia by age shows that the prevalence of dementia increases with age, with a sharp rise in the prevalence of dementia from 75 years of age and above, and more than 20 percent in the 85 years of age and above.

In addition, the prevalence of dementia differs between men and women by age group, with men having a higher prevalence of dementia than women in the 65-79 age group, but women having a higher prevalence of dementia in the 80+ age group.