Korea's childbirths fall 8 percent in worst January on record

A woman takes care of a baby at a postnatal care center in Seoul. [YONHAP]

The number of babies born in Korea fell to the lowest of any January, marking 51 straight months of natural population decline.

A total of 21,442 babies were born in January 2024, down 7.7 percent from a year earlier, according data Statistics Korea released Wednesday.

The figure is the lowest logged for any January since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 1981.

The decline has also accelerated in recent years from a 1 percent on-year fall in January 2022 to a 5.7 percent decline in January 2023.

The number of newborns remained above 60,000 in January 2000 but fell below 50,000 in 2002 and had slid further to the 30,000 level by 2016. The January figure has hovered around the 20,000 level since 2020.

This January also marks the first month since March 2023 that the number of newborns has risen to the 20,000 level — but Korea usually logs a larger number of newborns in January, according to the agency.

Korea is experiencing grim demographic changes as many young people opt to postpone or give up marriage and childbirth in line with changing social norms and lifestyles as well as facing high home prices, a tough job market and broad economic slowdown.

Last year, the number of babies born in the country dropped 7.7 percent on year to reach an all-time low of 229,970.

The total fertility rate, or the average number of expected births from a woman in her lifetime, also hit a record yearly low of 0.72 — far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

That rate was 0.65 in the fourth quarter of last year, the lowest quarterly figure ever recorded.

The number of deaths inched down 0.5 percent on year to reach 32,490 this January.

The population, accordingly, declined by 11,047, the sharpest fall for any January on record. The number of deaths has outpaced that of newborns since November 2019.

The number of couples getting married rose 11.6 percent on year to 28,000, the data also showed, as more couples tied the knot after delaying marriage during the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Divorces climbed 9.5 percent on year to 691, according to the data.

Korea is expected to be a highly aged country by 2072 with the median age projected to increase from 44.9 in 2022 to 63.4 in 2072. The population will tumble to around 36.22 million in 2072; it was 51 million last year.

BY PARK EUN-JEE, YONHAP [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]