South Korea’s fertility rate marks record low in Q2 of 2023

There were 56,087 newborn babies in the second quarter of 2023, a 6.8 per cent dip from the same period last year. - Reuters

SEOUL (The Korea Herald/Asia News Network): South Korea’s fertility rate dropped to a record low of 0.7 in the second quarter of 2023, according to the latest government report, in yet another stark indicator of the deepening demographic crisis in a nation already grappling with the world’s lowest birth rate.

There were 56,087 newborn babies in the second quarter of this year, a 6.8 per cent dip from the same period in 2022, according to Statistics Korea, the country’s statistics body. The figure was released on Wednesday in its monthly demographic and census report.