March was Korea's cruelest month with 44,487 deaths

A medical team moving in a Covid-19 patient in critical condition at a hospital in Seoul in March. [YONHAP]

More than 40,000 people died in Korea in March, a monthly record.

The peak of Korea's Covid-19 pandemic was a big factor, but it didn't account for all the deaths.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 44,487 people died in March, a 67.6 percent year-on-year increase, or 17,937 more deaths.

Compared to February's 29,189, the figure was nearly double.

The previous monthly records were 31,634 in December 2021 and 31,550 in January 2018. In both cases, winter temperatures were considered a cause, especially for elderly casualties. In March, the weather was relatively warm.

“As deaths of the elderly have continued to increase [steadily], it is not enough to explain the significant increase in March,” said a statistics agency official. “We believe the peak of Covid-19 in March had an effect.”

Korea's fourth wave of Covid-19 cases peaked in March. The number of people confirmed with Omicron exceeded 300,000 daily and around 300 people died every day.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 8,420 people died of Covid-19 in March, compared to 1,398 in February.

Beyond deaths, the number of newborns continued to shrink in March, registering 22,925 newborns, a 4.2 percent drop from a year earlier.

New births have been shrinking since February 2015.

As deaths increase and births fall, so-called natural population decline was 21,562 in March, nearly 10 times the 2,616 of March 2021.

The population has been shrinking for 29 straight months.

The total fertility rate was 0.86, 0.02 less than a year ago. The total fertility rate, which is the average number of births that a woman is expected to have during her lifetime, has remained below 1 since the second quarter of 2019.

Last year the total fertility rate for the year hit a record low of 0.81.

The number of couples that married in March was 15,316, a 8.6 percent drop from a year ago.

People who divorced dropped to 7,882, a 13.1 percent decline year-on-year.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]