![\"South](\"https:\/\/c.ndtvimg.com\/2023-02\/gs4jc2s_south-korea-fertility_625x300_22_February_23.jpg\"\/ "\\"South")
<\/div>\nCountries need a fertility rate of 2.1 to maintain a stable population<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In yet another grim milestone, South Korea has\u00a0recorded the world’s lowest fertility rate with the number falling to a new low. With this, the country has smashed its own record for the world’s lowest fertility rate again, CNN<\/a><\/em> reported.<\/p>\n The average number of expected babies per South Korean woman over her reproductive life fell to 0.78 in 2022, down from 0.81 a year earlier, according to data published by Statistics Korea on Wednesday. The number of newborns declined last year to 249,000 from 260,600 a year earlier which is less than five per cent of the population. This is the lowest among more than 260 nations tracked by the World Bank.<\/p>\n As per CNN<\/em>, countries need a fertility rate of 2.1 to maintain a stable population. While the birth rate in the South East Asian nation has been falling since 2015, it has recorded more deaths than births for the first time since 2020.<\/p>\n The country also has the world’s fastest-shrinking population among economies with per capita gross domestic product of at least US$30,000, according to United Nations projections and World Bank data.<\/p>\n Despite the country spending billions of dollars each year on childcare subsidies, the government has failed to reverse the falling birth rate. The government has spent 280 trillion won ($210bn) over the past 16 years to reverse the falling birth rate but has failed to achieve the expected results.<\/p>\n The plummeting birth rate has now stoked fears that a declining population could severely damage the South Korean economy, because of a workforce shortage.<\/p>\n Some of the factors cited for the low fertility rate are expensive housing, gender and social inequality, low levels of social mobility, and the huge expense of raising children in a highly competitive and expensive education system. Korean women are also having children later in life. In addition, housing costs have also surged.<\/p>\n According to economists, South Korea needs to do more to improve gender equality so that women feel less worried about losing their jobs by having children.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\nFeatured Video Of The Day<\/h3>\n