Newborn could fall under 20,000 in S. Korea from May

[Photo by MK DB]

Newborn could come under 20,000 in South Korea grappling with the world’s lowest birthrate.

The number of babies born in Korea totaled 21,124 in April, down 7% from a year ago as birth count falls for 77th straight month, Statistics Korea data showed Wednesday. The crude birth rate, the number of births per 1,000 people, was 5.0, down 0.4 from a year ago. The decline was due to fewer population of women in the childbearing age group and fewer marriages. The number of deaths, meanwhile, reached an all-time high of 36,697 in April, up 46.3% from a year ago. Korea’s natural population decline continued for 30th straight month in April.

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