According to the latest report by the United Nations Population Fund, South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world. The document, which addresses the state of the World Population, was released this Wednesday, 14/04.
As the report – produced annually by the United Nations (UN) – points out, South Korea was among the last 198 countries. The fertility rate in the country is 1.1 per woman. The percentage in question is a reference to the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime.
The report
According to the document, the fertility rate in South Korea had a drastic drop. In 2019, the country was ranked 192nd. To date, the fertility rate was 1.3. The birth rate in South Korea showed promise only in 2008, however, in subsequent years, it started to decline.
In recent years, the South Korean National Bureau of Statistics has even reported that the fertility rate has dropped to 0.918. Even with a drop in the birth rate, in terms of comparison between South Korea and other regions, the data collected by the UN varies slightly.
According to a report published by the UPI news portal, South Korea is fully aware of the downturn, but few policies have been effective in solving the problem.
According to the UN report, long working hours and/or lack of job opportunities in competitive South Korea are the main reasons for the birth rate to remain relatively low. The document also points out as another possible cause the drop in the number of marriages among South Koreans in their 20s, 30s and 40s.
Other possible reasons
On South Korean social networks, users revealed that the drop in the birth rate is mainly due to the disparity in house prices. For many, the current moment makes the possibility of getting married and starting a family inhospitable.
Amidst the situation, the share of the 65-year-old South Korean population showed a slight increase, from 15.8% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2020. “The aging of the population ends up giving a financial weight to the country”, informed Bloomberg, a private finance, software, data and media company, this Tuesday, 13/04.
Andreas Bauer, head of the International Monetary Fund of South Korea, revealed to the UPI news portal that the constant investments in the health sector and the availability of other costs represent a concern for the current government. According to Bauer, GDP, because of this, should rise to 69.7% by 2026.
According to the current government, the current economic situation in the country is manageable, but fiscal policy needs to continue to be analyzed.
Today
Data presented by the Worldometers portal reveal that the current population of the Republic of Korea is 51,304.01, which is equivalent to 0.66% of the world population. The population density in the country is 527 per square kilometer, or 1,366 people per square kilometer. About 81.8% of the population is urban – 41,934,110 people. The average age in South Korea is 43.7 years and life expectancy is 83.50 years.