South Korea’s fertility rate fell to the lowest in the world last year, data showed on Wednesday, as uncertainty over the coronavirus discouraged couples from marrying and having children.
The number of expected babies per South Korean woman fell to 0.84 in 2020, dropping further from the country’s previous record low of 0.92 a year earlier, the official annual reading from the Statistics Korea showed.
For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.
That is the lowest among over 180 member countries of the World Bank, and far below 1.73 in the US and 1.42 in Japan.
The grim milestone comes after the population fell for the first time ever last year.
Asia’s fourth-largest economy is the fastest aging country in the OECD. The government has failed to reverse the falling birth rate despite spending billions of dollars each year on childcare subsidies and maternity leave support.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
The nation’s capital Seoul logged the lowest birth rate of 0.64.
Read more:
China’s 2020 new births fall 15 percent as COVID-19 weighs
‘Lockdown babies’ replaced by ‘anti baby-boom’ amid vaccination rollout: UAE doctors
The coronavirus pandemic puts pregnant women at risk – let’s take care of them
Also Read
-
Singapore baby born with coronavirus antibodies puzzles scientists
Doctors are studying the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their unborn babies in Singapore, where an infant delivered by an infected mother ... Coronavirus -
‘Lockdown babies’ replaced by ‘anti baby-boom’ amid vaccination rollout: UAE doctors
A mass rollout of vaccinations against COVID-19 will see couples delay plans to have babies as priorities change to beating the virus, UAE doctors ... Coronavirus -
China’s 2020 new births fall 15 percent as COVID-19 weighs
The number of newborns in China plummeted 15 percent in 2020 from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Public Security, with the onset of the ... Coronavirus
