Nationa Statistical Office(NSO) releases 2005 Report
South Korea's fertility rate fell to a new record low in 2005 as more and more women engaged in economic activities and got married at older ages, the country's statistics office said Monday. The rate, or the average number of babies per woman of child-bearing age, was 1.08 last year, down from 1.16 the previous year, and the number of newborn babies fell by 38,000, or 7.9
percent, to 438,000, according to the National Statistical Office (NSO).
The office said the number of babies for every 1,000 women aged 25 to 29 stood at 92.3 last year, also hitting a new record low.
On the other hand, women aged 30 to 39 gave birth to more babies.
"Childbirth was pushed back due to women's high economic participation rate and marriages at older ages," the NSO said. According to the office, the average age for women's first marriage was 27.7 last year, compared with 26.5 in 2000 and 24.8 in 1990. Along with the aging workforce, a low fertility rate is feared to deal a serious blow to the economy and the society. The proportion of those aged 65 or older is expected to rise to 24.1 percent of the total population in 2030 from an estimated 9.1 percent in 2005, data showed. As part of efforts to address those issues, the South Korean government is to spend a total of 30.5 trillion won (US$432.8 billion) over the next five years to strengthen the country's social safety net and boost its record-low birth rate. The figure breaks down into 19.3 trillion won for tackling the country's low birth rate and 11.2 trillion won for improving the living conditions of low-income earners, according to the government. The government had previously earmarked a total of 20 trillion won for such plans.(Yonhap News Agency)
