Last Year Births 266,000... Birth Rate '0.81' Hits Another Record Low

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] Last year, the total fertility rate stood at 0.81, marking a new record low since related statistics began in 1970. The annual number of births also remained in the 260,000 range.

According to the '2021 Birth Statistics' released by Statistics Korea on the 24th, the number of births last year was 266,000, a decrease of 4.3% (11,800) compared to the previous year. The crude birth rate (number of births per 1,000 population) was 5.1, down 0.2 from the previous year.

The total fertility rate, which represents the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, dropped by 0.03 from the previous year to 0.81, hitting an all-time low. This is the lowest level among the 38 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). South Korea is the only OECD member country with a total fertility rate below 1. South Korea's total fertility rate has been declining since it first fell below 1.0 in 2018 (0.98).

By age group, the fertility rate (number of births per 1,000 women in the respective age group) was highest among women in their early 30s at 76.1, followed by late 30s at 43.5, and late 20s at 27.5. However, the trend shows that fertility rates among women under 35 generally decreased, while those aged 35 and over showed a slight increase. The average age at childbirth rose by 0.2 years from the previous year to 33.4 years.

Last year, the number of first-born children was 148,000, down 6,000 (-3.9%) from the previous year. The number of second-born children was 91,000, and third-born or higher was 21,000, decreasing by 4,000 (-4.5%) and 1,000 (-5.9%) respectively compared to the previous year.

By region, Sejong City had the highest total fertility rate at 1.28 nationwide, followed by Jeonnam at 1.02. Sejong and Jeonnam were the only regions with a total fertility rate above 1.

Seoul had the lowest total fertility rate nationwide at 0.63, followed by Busan (0.73), and Incheon and Daegu (0.78) respectively.

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