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Seoul: South Korea has again recorded the world’s lowest fertility rate with the number falling to a new low.
According to data released by the statistics office on Wednesday, the number of babies expected per woman fell to 0.78 last year. While the figure was 0.81 in 2021, the lowest among more than 260 nations tracked by the World Bank.
The number of newborns declined last year to 249,000 from 260,600 a year earlier which is less than five per cent of the population, according to Statistics Korea. In contrast, about 373,000 people died last year, aggravating the challenges of ageing demographics for the economy of the country.
The fertility rate in the country first dropped to lower than one child per woman in 2018. In 2020 there was widespread alarm in South Korea when it recorded more deaths than births for the first time.
The trend continued till now with experts believing that higher living costs, high real estate prices, the cost of education and greater economic anxiety and the impact of the Covid pandemic are some of the factors discouraging them from having children.
The country has the world’s fastest-shrinking population among economies with a per capita GDP of at least US$30,000, according to the UN and World Bank.
A declining population can pose an immense challenge and put a country under strain on all fronts. The continuing declining population also leads to shortages of the workforce that impact the economy, experts said.
Economic pressures and career growth factors have been key considerations for people deciding on children in recent years, they said.
A shrinking workforce is a major cause of Korea’s declining potential growth rate. The working-age population peaked at 37.3 million in 2020 and is set to fall by almost half by 2070, according to Statistics Korea.
Throwing money at the problem
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol during a visit to a nursery last year admitted that more than $200 billion has been spent trying to boost the population over the past 16 years.
The government also came up with a few ideas for solving the problem like setting up a committee to discuss the issue and promising yet more financial support for newborns. A monthly allowance for parents with babies up to 1-year-old will increase from the current 300,000 won to 700,000 won ($230 to $540) in 2023 and to 1 million Korean won ($770) by 2024, according to the Yoon administration.
Despite all the spending and efforts, the county has failed to yield positive results to improve the fertility rate which is shrinking every year.
Korea has the world’s fastest-shrinking population among economies with per capita gross domestic product of at least US$30,000 (S$40,200), according to United Nations projections and World Bank data.
The average age at which a woman has her first child rose to 33 last year while the number of second children fell by 16.8 per cent. By region, the capital Seoul had the lowest fertility rate at 0.59, while Sejong, home to government headquarters, had the highest at 1.12, according to the stats office.
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