Korea’s total fertility rate is lowest in world for third year straight

[SHUTTERSTOCK]

Korea’s total fertility rate — the average number of times a woman is expected to give birth in her lifetime — is the lowest in the world for the third straight year according to a new report published Wednesday.

The State of World Population Report 2022, published by the UN Population Fund and the Korea Population, Health and Welfare Association, found that Korea’s total fertility rate was 1.1, ranking 198th of 198 countries.

The world population growth rate for 2020-2025 is 1 percent, however Korea’s population growth rate was estimated at 0 percent, a decrease of 0.2 percentage points compared to 2015-2020.

In contrast to the extremely low fertility rate, the proportion of people aged 65 and over in the country is 17 percent, higher than the global average of 10 percent.

The total world population this year is 7.95 billion, according to the report, an increase of 79 million from last year.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]