Baby Cries 'Stop' as June Births Drop to 21,000... 29 Consecutive Months Below 20,000

20 Consecutive Months of Natural Population Decline
Both Births and Marriages Hit Record Lows for June

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The number of births in June recorded 21,000, continuing the natural population decline for 20 consecutive months. The number of births has remained in the 20,000 range for 29 months since February 2019. The natural population decrease in the first half of the year exceeded 15,000.

June Births Hit Record Low... 67 Consecutive Months of Year-on-Year Decline

According to the 'June Population Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 25th, the number of births in June was 21,526, down 591 (-2.7%) from a year earlier. This is the lowest number recorded since related statistics began in June 1981.

On a monthly basis, the number of births has declined year-on-year for 67 consecutive months since December 2015. The number of births has remained in the 20,000 range for 29 months since February 2019. The crude birth rate, which refers to the annual number of births per 1,000 people, was only 5.1.

The number of deaths in June was 24,391, an increase of 739 (3.1%) from a year earlier.

The natural population increase, calculated by subtracting the number of deaths from the number of births, was recorded at -2,865. The natural population decrease, where deaths outnumber births, has continued for 20 consecutive months since November 2019. The cumulative natural population decrease from January to June was -15,689.

Looking at the number of births by 17 metropolitan local governments, six cities including Busan and Sejong saw an increase compared to the same month last year, while 11 cities including Seoul and Daegu saw a decrease.

The population naturally increased in seven cities including Seoul and Gwangju, and naturally decreased in 10 cities including Busan and Daegu.

June Marriages Also Hit Record Low

The number of marriages in June was 16,235, down 949 (-5.5%) from the same month last year.

The number of marriages recorded the lowest since statistics began for June. The decrease was the largest since June 2019 (-12.9%).

A Statistics Korea official explained, "The decrease in the population of prime marriage age and the impact of COVID-19 led to the decline in the number of marriages."

The number of divorces was 8,741, down 34 (-0.4%) from the same month a year earlier.

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