Korea Baby Bust Pushes World's Lowest Birth Rate Even Lower
Korea Baby Bust Pushes World's Lowest Birth Rate Even Lower
(Bloomberg) -- South Korean leaders have spent several billion dollars a year recently to encourage people to have more babies, given the country’s bleak demographic outlook. Their efforts are bearing little fruit, new data show.
South Korea’s fertility rate -- the number of expected babies per woman -- fell to 0.98 in 2018, according to data released by the statistics office Wednesday. At 1.05 in 2017, it was already the lowest among members of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, far below Japan’s 1.43, France’s 1.86, and Israel’s 3.11.
The number of babies born last year fell 8.7% from a year earlier, following declines of 11.9% and 7.3% in the two previous years.
The falling fertility rate comes despite government incentives that have included a year of subsidized childcare leave, free nurseries, government-trained and subsidized baby sitters, and cash stipends from municipal governments.
Part of the reason for fewer babies is that people are starting their families later, which in turn raises the age at which women give birth: it was 32.8 years in 2018, compared with 30.8 a decade ago. The statistics office’s data show more babies were born to mothers in their late 30s than to those in their late 20s.
Of all cities and provinces nationwide, Sejong was also the only one to see an increase in the number of babies in 2018. Women living in Sejong -- an administrative town 150 kilometers (93 miles) south of Seoul -- reported the highest fertility rate nationwide at 1.57, while Seoul reported the lowest at just 0.76.
Seoul’s decline comes even as the city’s government introduced a so-called “baby celebration package” worth 100,000 won ($82) last year. There are 51 options from which families can choose, including breast pumps and baby carriers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jiyeun Lee in Hong Kong at jlee1029@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Malcolm Scott at mscott23@bloomberg.net, Henry Hoenig, Michael S. Arnold
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