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2006-09-06 |
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5298 |
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Number of Births Hits Record Low |
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The Korea Times, August 25, 2006
The number of births fell to an all-time low last year as an increasing number of Korean women have been getting married at a later age and are having fewer children, Park Kyong-ae, an assistant director of the National Statistical Office's (NSO) demographic movement division, said Thursday.
According to the (NSO), there were 438,062 babies born in 2005, down 37,990 from 2004, the lowest figure since the statistical office began to compile the data.
It means that an average of 1,200 infants were born every day, down from 1,301 in 2004. The average number of babies born per woman, or the total fertility rate (TFR), came to 1.08 in 2005_ down from 1.16 a year ago_ and is one of the lowest in the world, the NSO said.
Korea's TFR is lower than the major member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the statistical office. American women had an average of 2.05 infants last year, followed by 1.9 in France, 1.74 in Britain and 1.25 in Japan.
The crude birthrate (CBR), which indicates the number of children born per 1,000 people, stood at 9 infants, down from 9.8 in 2004, 10.2 in 2003 and 13.4 in 2000.
The average age of pregnant women was 30.2 years old, up from 30.1 in 2004 and 29.8 in 2003. Korean women had their first child at the average age of 29.1 in 2004, with the second and third children born at 31 and 33.3, respectively.
"The data show that more women are giving birth in their early 30s, while the number of pregnant women in their 20s fell as they are postponing marriage to pursue their careers," Park said.
The number of male newborns per 100 female infants stood at 107.7 in 2005, down from 108.2 a year earlier, indicating the sex ratio at birth is approaching the average range of 103 to 107.
But the gender ratio for the third child was at 127.7 males per 100 female babies, showing that Koreans still prefer male babies.
The statistical office said more married couples decided to have babies later even after they got married, with about 71.4 percent of couples giving birth to their first child within two years of marriage last year, down from 72 percent in 2004.
Meanwhile, 245,511 Koreans died in 2005, equivalent to a daily average of 673. The crude death rate (CDR) _ the number of deaths per 1,000 people _ marked 5 in 2005, down from 5.1 a year before.
The death rate for males aged 40 to 49 was 2.7 times higher than females in the same age group. The group of 50 to 59-year-old males had 2.9 times higher death rate than females, while the male group of 60 to 69-year-olds was 2.6 times higher.
The Korean population increased by 192,551 in 2005, lower than an increase of 230,281 in 2004. The statistical office forecast that given the current low birth rate, the population size would likely remain unchanged until 2021 and decline afterward.
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