Kim Yong-beom, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance, "Number of Births This Year Expected to Be Around 260,000 to 270,000... Likely the First Year of Population Decline"

(Photo) [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Kim Yong-beom, First Vice Minister of the Ministry of Economy and Finance, stated on the 26th, "The number of births, which reached 1 million in the 1970s, is expected to be only around 260,000 to 270,000 this year, and this year is likely to be recorded as the first year of population decline."

On this day, Vice Minister Kim made these remarks while presiding over the 6th meeting of the 2nd Population Policy Task Force at the Government Seoul Office.

According to the population trends announced on the previous day for April, the monthly number of births has decreased for 53 consecutive months compared to the same month of the previous year, and since November last year, natural population decline has been occurring for six consecutive months, with the number of deaths exceeding the number of births. The cumulative number of births from January to April this year was 97,470, a 10.9% decrease from the previous year. If this trend continues, the number of births this year will be around 270,000.

Vice Minister Kim expressed concern that the impact of the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) would negatively affect marriage and childbirth, accelerating the low birthrate trend. In fact, the number of marriages in April decreased by 21.8% compared to the same month last year, recording the largest decline ever with 15,670 cases.

Vice Minister Kim said, "In the era of ultra-low birthrate, how we prepare for and respond swiftly to the changes in population structure brought about by COVID-19 will determine the future of our economy," adding, "Through today's Population Policy Task Force meeting, we will conduct a final review of the tasks prepared so far and announce the final results of the Task Force activities through a meeting of related ministers as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.