Lowest Number of Births in October... 36 Consecutive Months of Natural Population Decline

Statistics Korea Announces 'October 2022 Population Trends'
20,658 Births... 2.4% Decrease Compared to Same Period Last Year
29,768 Deaths... "Impact of COVID-19 and Aging Population"

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] The number of births in October recorded the lowest figure ever for the same month. Meanwhile, the number of deaths increased, resulting in a natural population decline for 36 consecutive months.

According to the 'October Population Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 28th, the number of births in October was 20,658, a decrease of 91 (-0.4%) compared to the previous year.

The number of domestic births has recorded the lowest figure for the same month compared to the previous year for 79 consecutive months since April 2016. The rate of decline slightly expanded compared to September (-0.1%). The crude birth rate, which refers to the number of births per 1,000 people during the same period, was 4.7, down by 0.1.

The number of deaths in October was 29,763, an increase of 2,013 (7.3%) compared to the same month last year. The number of deaths recorded the highest ever for October, although the rate of increase slowed compared to August (15.8%) and September (13.8%). By region, the number of deaths increased in 16 provinces nationwide except Gangwon.

No Hyung-jun, head of the Population Trends Division at Statistics Korea, analyzed, "Due to population aging, the elderly population is increasing, leading to a rise in elderly deaths," adding, "COVID-19 also influenced as a health risk factor."

With births decreasing and deaths increasing, the natural population increase in October, calculated by subtracting deaths from births, was -9,104. Accordingly, the domestic population has recorded a natural decline for 36 consecutive months since November 2019.

The number of marriages in August was 15,832, an increase of 629 (4.1%) compared to the previous year. This was influenced by the base effect of a significant decrease in marriage registrations during the COVID-19 period. Compared to the same month last year, the number of marriages increased in 12 provinces including Daegu and Incheon, while it decreased in 5 provinces including Seoul and Busan. Divorces in October were 7,466, a decrease of 238 (-3.1%).

The number of births from January to October this year was 212,881, which is more than 10,000 fewer than 223,554 during the same period last year. Considering the usual trend of decreasing births toward the end of the year, the annual number of births is likely to fall below 250,000.

The number of births, which had maintained the 400,000 range for 15 years from 2002 to 2016, dropped to the 300,000 range in 2017 and entered the late 200,000 range in 2020. Last year, the number of births recorded was 260,562.

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