He number of babies born in South Korea in 2022 hit another new all-time low while deaths once again exceeded births in the Asian country for the third consecutive year, according to data published today.
According to figures from the Korea Statistics Office, last year a total of 249,000 babies, 4.4% less than in 2021a year in which a record low was also recorded.
The fertility rate -the average number of children a woman has in her lifetime- in South Korea was 0.78 in 2022, in what is the fifth consecutive year that the figure is below 1 and the lowest level since 1970the year in which data collection began in this area.
The birth rate of Asia’s fourth largest economy has been by far the lowest among the 38 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for a decade and by far.
Experts believe that the rate should be around 2.1 to keep the population of South Korea stable, which stands at just over 51 million.
The average age at which South Koreans have their first child will increase in 2022 to 33.5 yearswhich is 0.2 years more than the previous year.
For years many South Korean couples have been delaying the age at which they have children or opting not to have themarguing factors such as the economic slowdown or the high cost of housing.
In turn, more and more South Koreans underline in surveys the burden that having a child supposes in a very patriarchal society where in many cases they are forced to leave their jobs and dedicate themselves entirely to household chores once they give birth.
On the other hand, the number of deaths in South Korea in 2022 was 372,800which means a 17.4% more in relation to the previous year and a record difference (about 123,000) with respect to the number of births.
The Asian country, which in the eighties registered population growth of more than 600,000 inhabitants per year, began to point to negative growth in 2020.
(With information from EFE)
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Source-www.infobae.com