South Korea ranks last for birthrate in U.N. report

April 14 (UPI) — South Korea has the world’s lowest birthrate, according to the latest report from the United Nations Population Fund.

The U.N.’s annual State of World Population report released Wednesday showed that Korea ranked at the bottom of 198 countries. South Korea’s fertility rate is 1.1 per woman, a reference to the average number of children a woman is expected to bear in a lifetime.

The report indicates South Korea’s fertility rate has declined since 2019, when the country ranked 192nd, with a fertility rate of 1.3. South Korea’s population peaked in 2008, but has begun to decline in the past decade, Hankyoreh reported Wednesday.

The U.N. data varies slightly from Seoul’s statistics. In 2019, South Korea’s National Statistical Office reported the fertility rate had fallen to 0.918, or less than one child per woman, according to the Hankyoreh.

South Korea is aware of the country’s declining birthrate, but few policies have been able to address the problem effectively.

Long work hours and lack of employment opportunities in South Korea’s competitive society have been cited as economic causes for the relatively low birthrate and increasingly low rates of marriage among South Koreans in their 20s, 30s and 40s.

On South Korean social media platforms, anonymous commenters have said skyrocketing home prices have forced some people to hold back on starting families.

The share of the South Korean population aged 65 or older also is increasing, rising to 16.6% from 15.8% in 2020, according to the U.N. agency.

The graying population could place pressure on the nation’s debt burden, Bloomberg reported Tuesday.

Andreas Bauer, Korea mission chief for the International Monetary Fund, told the news service that health care and other costs pose a concern for government debt, which is expected to jump to 69.7% of GDP by 2026.

Debt remains manageable, but fiscal policy needs to be placed into a “longer term framework,” Bauer said, according to the report.