Gyeongnam Women Have 0.95 Children in Their Lifetime... Gyeongnam Province Actively Responds to Population Changes

Reflecting Solutions for Declining Birth Rates and Future Population Changes Across Provincial Policies

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Last year, the total fertility rate in Gyeongnam recorded 0.95, falling below 1.0 for the first time in history.

On the 25th, Gyeongnam Province announced plans to proactively address low birth rates through various population policies based on the 2020 birth statistics released by Statistics Korea.

According to Statistics Korea, the nationwide total fertility rate in 2020 was 0.84, and the number of births was 272,300, marking the lowest level ever recorded.

Additionally, the natural population decrease last year was 33,000, marking the first time in history that the number of births fell below the number of deaths, resulting in a population dead cross.

Gyeongnam's total fertility rate was 0.95, entering the below-1.0 range for the first time since 2008.

Originally, since 2018, 12 out of 18 cities and counties in Gyeongnam had been classified as population extinction risk areas.

If this trend of low birth rates and aging continues, it is predicted that by 2047, Gyeongnam's population will be 2.96 million, and all cities and counties within the province will enter the extinction risk stage.

Voices are emerging that in order for residents to feel the problems arising from changes in population structure and to overcome low birth rates, support and continuously interconnected policies regarding marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, education, jobs, and housing are necessary.

So far, Gyeongnam Province has established a mid- to long-term basic population policy plan and prepared the 'Gyeongnam Hope Population Plus 2 Policy' to address the population decline issue.

Since 2019, it has also been promoting a public contest project for three consecutive years to overcome population decline and attract population inflow.

Above all, to prevent the outflow of young people, a Youth Policy Promotion Team was established in January last year to develop response measures in areas such as jobs, education, housing, welfare, and culture.

In September, the province plans to establish the 'Five-Year Plan for a Bigger Gyeongnam Where Youth Want to Live' to promote more active youth policies.

Jang Jaehyuk, Director of Policy Planning at the province, said, "We plan to expand and supplement childbirth and childcare policies to alleviate the decline in birth rates and implement policies to improve the quality of life for youth and women," adding, "We will proactively respond to population changes, including preventing population outflow through regional innovation and preparing for an aging society."

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