Korean childbirths down 6.9 pct in February
The number of newborns in Korea fell nearly 7 percent in February from a year earlier. GETTYIMAGESBANK
The number of newborns in South Korea fell 6.9 percent in February from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, a sign of the continuing low birthrate that has plagued Asia's fourth-largest economy for more than a decade.
The data compiled by Statistics Korea showed that 25,700 babies were born in February, compared with 27,600 babies tallied in the same month of 2018.
It marks the lowest number of newborns reported for any February since 1981, when the statistics agency started compiling data on newborns on a monthly basis.
In 2018, South Korea's total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― hit a record low of 0.98, much lower than the replacement level of 2.1 that would keep South Korea's population stable at 51 million.
The decline in childbirths came as some young people delay marriage amid a prolonged economic slowdown.
The number of people tying the knot came to 18,200 in February, the lowest for any February since 1981. (Yonhap)