Korea’s childbirth tally hits new low in October

[Photo by Lee Chung-woo]

The number of newborns in South Korea fell to a fresh monthly low of 18,904 in October, declining below the 20,000 threshold for a seventh consecutive month, data showed Wednesday.

According to Statistics Korea, 18,904 babies were born in October, down 8.4 percent from the same month a year ago. It is the lowest figure for the month of October since the agency began compiling related data in 1981.

It is also the first time that the tally fell to under 20,000 in October.

The number of childbirths in the first 10 months of this year came to a fresh low of 196,041, down 8.1 percent from the same period last year.

According to a recent population projection by Statistics Korea, the annual number of newborns is projected at 230,000 this year and 218,000 next year.

The total fertility rate – the average number of births a woman is expected to have during her lifetime – is also expected to fall to 0.72 this year, hitting a new low following 0.78 last year.

The total fertility rate stood at 0.81 in the first quarter of this year, 0.7 in the second quarter, and 0.7 in the third quarter.