Jakarta –
South Korea’s demographic crisis has deepened after new data showed the number of babies born last year hit a record low.
According to figures released on Wednesday by Statistics Korea, 249,000 babies were born in 2022, down 4.4 percent from the previous year. This makes South Korea the country with the lowest birth rate in the world.
The Guardian reported that the birth rate also fell to a record low, hitting government efforts to encourage couples to have more children.
Statistics show an average birth rate of just 0.78, the lowest level since records were first archived in 1970. In addition to the lowest birth rate, South Korea is also the only country in the world with a fertility rate below one.
Triggers of South Korean Citizens Refusal to Have Children
The trigger is because more young people choose to delay starting a family or give up having children altogether.
They cite high costs of raising children, poor job prospects amid an economic slowdown, and soaring real estate prices. Meanwhile women said they preferred to prioritize their personal freedom and put aside finding a life partner.
As a result, the number of marriages in South Korea hit an all-time low of just 193,000 in 2021.
The average age of women giving birth will be 33.5 in 2022, according to new data, up 0.2 from the previous year. On average, women give birth to their first child at the age of 33.
Only 24 babies are born for every 1,000 women in their late 20s, down 3.5 percent from the previous year.
With some of the world’s lowest fertility rates and a rapidly aging population, concerns are growing about the strain on South Korea’s economy and the pension system, which may run out in the next few decades.
The population shrank for the first time on record in 2021, and is projected to fall even further, to 38 million, by 2070.
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(kna/suc)
