Korea’s births in May post record low, down for a 90th consecutive month

A newborn unit of a maternity hospital in Seoul. [Photo by Han Joo-hyung]

The number of babies born in South Korea has continued its downward spiral, falling year-on-year for seven years and six months straight. In May, the number of births fell to a record low of 18,000.

The Korean population has been declining naturally for three years and seven months as the number of deaths outpaced the number of births.

According to May 2023 population trends released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, the number of births in May stood at 18,988, down 1,069, or 5.3 percent, from a year earlier. The number of births was the lowest on record for May since 1981, when statistics started being compiled. It was also the first time on record that the number of births fell below 20,000 in May. The number of births has fallen for 90 consecutive months since December 2015. The crude birth rate, or the number of births per 1,000 population, was 4.4, down 0.2 from a year earlier. This is the lowest for the same month.

The number of deaths increased by 50, or 0.2 percent, from a year earlier to 28,958, the highest number for May. This is an increase from last year, when the number of deaths was the highest due to the pandemic. As deaths outnumbered births, the population declined naturally by 9,970, logging the 43rd month of decline since November 2019. All cities and provinces except Sejong experienced a natural decrease in population.

Amid the prolonged decline in the birthrate and aging population, it has been pointed out that technological innovations are needed to change the perception of aging and increase the convenience of the elderly.

“We need age-friendly innovations such as eliminating age discrimination,” said Kim Jung-geun, a professor for department of senior industry management at Kangnam University, at a seminar held by the Success Economy Institute and Korean Dynamism Forum on the topic of “super-aged society and social innovation” on Tuesday. “We need to move away from the perspective of medical therapeutics that treats the elderly as unproductive surplus, or sees aging as a disease and tries to fix it.”