Foreign Media on Korea's Low Birthrate Causes: "Gender Discrimination, Housing Prices, Education Costs"

Last Year's Total Fertility Rate Hits 'Record Low' at 0.78
"More Deaths Than Births in Korea"

South Korea's total fertility rate last year hit a record low of 0.78, drawing attention from overseas media to the background of the country's low birthrate issue.

On the 21st (local time), Bloomberg reported on South Korea's low birthrate problem under the headline "South Korea Breaks Its Own Record for World's Lowest Fertility Rate."

The outlet pointed out, "More people are dying than being born in South Korea, leading to a population decline," adding, "With South Korea's fertility rate at a world-low level dropping further, the economic issue of an aging population is intensifying."

[Image source=Pixabay]

According to the 'Provisional Results of 2022 Birth and Death Statistics' and 'December 2022 Population Trends' released earlier by Statistics Korea, last year's total fertility rate was 0.78, down 0.03 from the previous year, marking the lowest since statistics began in 1970. South Korea has ranked last among OECD countries in total fertility rate continuously since 2013.

Bloomberg described this phenomenon as "indicating a shrinking labor force that supports growth and vitality, posing a long-term risk to the economy," and noted, "Welfare spending for the aging population is depleting national finances, and the decline in the workforce is a major cause of South Korea's potential growth rate decrease."

It continued, "Economists suggest that South Korea should make greater efforts toward gender equality so that women can worry less about losing their jobs after having children," adding, "High education costs and housing prices are also among the factors putting pressure on the fertility rate."

Japanese media also focused on South Korea's low birthrate issue. Japan's Nihon Keizai (Nikkei) newspaper stated, "The increasing burden of childcare, such as expensive housing and education costs, is causing more people to hesitate about marriage and childbirth." It added, "Even compared to Japan, the fertility rate is lower," and said, "The low birthrate and aging population problems are pressuring the national pension finances and making it difficult to maintain the conscription system, prompting the South Korean government to push for social infrastructure reforms."

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