A total of 249,000 babies were born last year, down 4.4 percent from the previous record low in 2021, according to statistics from Statistics Korea.
The country’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman has during her lifetime, is expected to drop to 0.78 in 2022, Yonhap news agency reported.
Last year marked the fifth straight year the rate was below one.
Experts believe that the rate must be at least 2.1 to keep South Korea’s population stable at 52 million.
Why is the birth rate so low in South Korea?
Childbirth in South Korea continues to decline as many young people delay or forgo childbearing due to the economic downturn and high house prices.
Reflecting this, the average age of mothers giving birth in 2022 is set to be 33.5, a 0.2 increase from a year earlier.
Women had their first child on average at 33, followed by their second and third at 34.2 and 35.6, respectively.
The data showed that for every 1,000 South Korean women at the end of 2022, 24 children were born, down 3.5 from a year earlier.
On the other hand, women in their late 30s put up a figure of 0.5 a year compared to those at 44.
The report said that 31.5 per cent of newly married couples had their first child within two years.
On the other hand, the number of deaths in 2022 is projected to reach 372,800, a 17.4 percent increase from a year earlier.
Asia’s No. 4 economy reported more deaths than births in 2020 for the first time.
In 2022, the death toll is set to exceed a record-high figure of 120,000, marking a drastic change from 1981, when the country saw a natural increase of 630,000.
Among South Korea’s 16 major cities and provinces, Sejong, 120 km south of Seoul, was the only one to have more births than deaths in 2022.
The statistics agency previously projected that the country’s population would face a natural shortfall of 200,000 or more starting in 2038.
In December 2022, a total of 16,803 babies were born, down 2.2 percent from a year earlier, while deaths rose 5.4 percent to 33,360.
The data showed the number of marriages rose 0.6 percent to 19,883 in December, while divorces rose 10.4 percent to 7,821.
Source: IANS
