Korea's natural population decline begins
Korea's population is officially shrinking. GettyimagesbankBy Jung Min-hoKorea's population is officially shrinking.For the first time since the government started keeping track in 1983, deaths outnumbered births in November, and the country is expected to report its first annual population decline this year.According to Statistics Korea data released last week, 25,438 people died that month, up 5.1 percent from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the number of newborns fell short with 23,819, a 5.9 percent decrease from a year earlier and a November record low.More deaths than births put the country's natural population growth at minus 0.4 percent.The trend is expected to accelerate. According to the data, 20, 493 couples married that month, down 10.1 percent from a year earlier.Across the rich world, many women increasingly choose to marry late, if at all, and have one child, if any. Korea is one of the most ― if not the most ― extreme cases.In 2018, the country's total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― hit a record low of 0.98, far below the re
