The number of childbirths in South Korea fell in August after rising for five straight months, a government report showed Tuesday, a worrisome turnaround for a country struggling with an aging population.
In July, some 35,200 babies were born here, down 3.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the report from Statistics Korea. The total number of newborns was also down from 36,700 tallied for July.
The annual decrease follows a 0.8 percent on-year rise in the previous month and 3.8 percent gain in June.
South Korea, whose population is expected to peak in 2030, has been trying to push up its birthrate to prevent a decline in the national workforce, which could result in more welfare expenses and damage the country’s growth potential. The country has one of the lowest birthrates among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states.
The statistical agency said there were no clear cut reasons for the dip, although data showed childbirths usually fell during the peak summer months of July and August.
For the first eight months of 2015, childbirths moved up 1.3 percent on-year to about 299,900 babies, according to the report.
In 2014, 435,400 babies were born in Asia’s fourth-largest economy, down 0.2 percent on-year. The drop also followed a 9.9 percent plunge in the previous year.
The latest report showed about 21,800 couples tied the knot in August, down 2.2 percent from a year earlier.
The number of newlyweds is a good indicator of future childbirths as very few children are born to single-parent families here.
The number of marriages dropped 5.4 percent last year to 305,500, following a 1.3 percent contraction in 2013.
For the January-August period, about 201,300 couples got married, effectively unchanged from the same period last year.
In August, the number of divorces fell 5.4 percent on-year to about 8,700. In the first eight months, the number of divorces shrank 6.2 percent on-year to about 71,700.
The number of deaths, meanwhile, rose 2.4 percent on-year to some 21,500 during the month. Total deaths in the country hit 185,400 as of August.
In a separate report, the statistics office said the number of people changing their residency backtracked 2.9 percent on-year to about 550,000 in September. This number is also down from 619,000 in August. (Yonhap)
