Korea records the lowest number of births last year

Preliminary elementary school students play with candy during a pre-freshman convocation at Songsoo Elementary School in Haeundae, Busan, on Wednesday. Yonhap News Agency

Last year, the number of births registered based on resident registration was the lowest ever. In particular, in December last year, 16,000 births were recorded, the lowest ever on a monthly basis. North Gyeongsang Province saw the largest decrease in population over the past year, while Gyeonggi Province saw the largest increase in population.

According to an analysis of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s resident registration demographics released on January 3, the total number of people registered for birth based on resident registration last year was 235,039, the lowest ever. It was 8 percent lower than in 2022 (254,628) and 11 percent lower than in 2021 (263,127).

In particular, the number of registered births stood at 16,996 in December last year, the lowest ever on a monthly basis. The figure is down 930 from the previous record low of 17,926 in September last year.

The number fell to 17,000 for the first time in September last year, which slightly increased to 23,46 in October, then decreased again to 18,405 in November, and recorded 16,000 for the first time in December.

Last year, the number of births stood at 120,419 for men and 114,620 for women. In December, there were 8,610 men and 8,386 women.

The total population also declined. As of December last year, the total population of the country was 51.33 million, 113,709 fewer compared to December 2022 (51.44 million). The number of men and women decreased by 71,215 and 42,494, respectively.

North Gyeongsang Province saw the biggest decrease in population over the period by 46,168, which was followed by Seoul (42,338) and South Gyeongsang Province (29,335). On the other hand, Gyeonggi Province saw an increase of 41,389 people over the year.

As of December last year, the number of senior citizens aged 65 and over was 9.73 million, up 5 percent from 9.27 million in December 2022, while the number of people aged between 0 and 17 was 7.07 million, down 3 percent from 7.27 million a year earlier.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.