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

SEOUL — 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 to not have babies.

The average number of expected babies for a South Korean woman during her reproductive life fell to 0.72 from 0.78 in 2022, data from Statistics Korea showed on Feb 28.

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 member of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to have a rate below one, 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.

"Having a baby is on my list, but there are windows for promotions and I don't want to be passed over," said Gwak Tae-hee, 34, a junior manager at a Korean dairy product maker who has been married for three years.

Gwak had considered starting in vitro fertilisation treatment in 2023 to try to have a baby, but ended up volunteering for work projects to improve her career prospects.

"I don't know about elsewhere, but working two or three days a week doesn't get you anywhere in Korean companies. I hope it's not too late when I try next year or the year after," Gwak said.

South Korea's demographic crisis has become the top risk to economic growth and the social welfare system, with the country's population of 51 million on track to halve by the end of this century.

South Korea has previously projected its fertility rate is likely to fall