In South Korea, world’s lowest fertility rate plunges again in 2023

South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, continued to decline in 2023, as women decided to delay childbirth or not have babies at all.

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s fertility rate, already the world’s lowest, continued its dramatic decline in 2023, as women concerned about their career advancement and the financial cost of raising children decided to delay childbirth or not have babies at all.

The average number of expected babies for a South Korean woman during her reproductive life fell to a record low of 0.72 from 0.78 in 2022, data from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday.

That is far below the rate of 2.1 per woman needed for a steady population and well behind the rate of 1.24 in 2015, when concerns about issues such as the cost of housing and education were lower.

Since 2018, South Korea has been the only Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) member with a rate below 1, defying the billions of dollars spent by the country to try to reverse the trend that led the population to decline for a fourth straight year in 2023.

South Korea also has the worst gender pay gap in the OECD, as Korean women bring home about two-thirds of the income that men do.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/south-korea-japan-record-low-fertility-2023-rcna140849

---