Korea's total fertility rate for 2018 expected to fall to 0.96
- 5 years ago
Is Korea soon going to face the so-called demographic cliff, in which the ratio of working age population falls at an alarming rate?
Korea's fertility rate has fallen rapidly in recent years... with last year's figure expected to be the lowest since Statistics Korea began recording the data.
Kim Hyesung reports.
New figures show South Korea's total fertility rate for 2018 is expected to drop below one.
According to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy on Friday, last year's total fertility rate is expected to record between zero-point-96 and zero-point-97... with around 325-thousand births in the country.
That's down from 2017's fertility rate of one-point-zero-five, and is the lowest rate since Statistics Korea began recording the data in 1970.
The fertility rate is defined as the total number of children that would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years.
A rate of around 2-point-one is needed to produce a stable population, but now the figure has declined to half that level.
Korea’s fertility rate also ranks as the lowest in the OECD, far below the OECD average of 1-point-six-eight.
The proportion of the population that is economically productive, aged between 15 and 64, has also started to drop from 2017 after hitting an all-time-high of 73 percent in 2016... which could slow down consumption and production, and therefore economic growth.
To tackle the falling fertility rate, the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy announced last December that it will focus on maintaining new births at the 300-thousand level through government support for parenting such as medical care and childcare.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.
Korea's fertility rate has fallen rapidly in recent years... with last year's figure expected to be the lowest since Statistics Korea began recording the data.
Kim Hyesung reports.
New figures show South Korea's total fertility rate for 2018 is expected to drop below one.
According to the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy on Friday, last year's total fertility rate is expected to record between zero-point-96 and zero-point-97... with around 325-thousand births in the country.
That's down from 2017's fertility rate of one-point-zero-five, and is the lowest rate since Statistics Korea began recording the data in 1970.
The fertility rate is defined as the total number of children that would be born to each woman if she were to live to the end of her child-bearing years.
A rate of around 2-point-one is needed to produce a stable population, but now the figure has declined to half that level.
Korea’s fertility rate also ranks as the lowest in the OECD, far below the OECD average of 1-point-six-eight.
The proportion of the population that is economically productive, aged between 15 and 64, has also started to drop from 2017 after hitting an all-time-high of 73 percent in 2016... which could slow down consumption and production, and therefore economic growth.
To tackle the falling fertility rate, the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy announced last December that it will focus on maintaining new births at the 300-thousand level through government support for parenting such as medical care and childcare.
Kim Hyesung, Arirang News.