Last year, the number of newborn babies fell to 406,300, down 32,100 or 7.3% on year from 438,400, the lowest since the statistical compilation began in 1970.
According to the age groups, the population aged between 25 to 29 decreased 10.6% and the group aged between 30 to 34 down 5.7%. On the other hand, the age groups of 35 to 39 and 40 to 44 increased 0.8% and 5.4% respectively.
The number of deaths hit 281,000, up 5,100 or 1.8% from the previous year, the highest since the statistical compilation began in 1983. According to the age groups of deaths, the statistics show that the natural deaths are increasing due to the ageing society. The death rate of age groups in their 80s and 90s increased 6.2% and 5.3% respectively.
The natural increase of the population in Korea plummeted to 125,300, down 37,200 or 22.9% on year, the lowest in number since the official statistics began the compilation in 1970.
reported by Kim Hak-tae
translated by Kim Sung-jin