S. Korea’s births turn downward in June

SEOUL, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) — South Korea’s births turned downward in three months, boosting worry about the Asian country’s population fall, statistical office data showed Wednesday.
The number of newborn babies reduced 1.8 percent from a year earlier to 18,242 in June after growing 2.9 percent in April and 2.6 percent in May, according to Statistics Korea.
The newborns remained low as young couples delayed or gave up on having children owing to economic difficulties such as high housing prices and stubborn unemployment.
The low birth rate fueled worry about a so-called demographic cliff, which refers to a sharp reduction in the heads of household eventually leading to a consumption cliff.
The number of marriages gained 5.6 percent to 16,948 in June compared to the same month of last year, while the number of divorces decreased 7.5 percent to 7,207.
The number of deaths added 0.5 percent to 26,942 in the cited month.
Affected by the still-low births and high deaths, the country’s population continued to slide since November 2019. ■