South Korea breaks own record for world’s lowest fertility rate

South Korea’s fertility rate, the world’s lowest for years, has fallen again, aggravating the challenges of ageing demographics for the economy. The number of babies expected per woman fell to 0.78 last year, according to data released by the statistics office on Wednesday. At 0.81 in 2021, it was already the lowest among more than 260 nations tracked by the World Bank. That is the lowest among countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD), which had an average rate of 1.59 in 2020.

韩国的生育率多年来一直是世界上最低的，现在再次下降了，加剧了人口老龄化对经济的挑战。 根据统计局周三公布的数据，去年每名妇女的预期生育数降至 0.78。2021 年为 0.81，在世界银行追踪的 260 多个国家中已经是最低的。这在经济合作与发展组织（OECD）国家中也是最低的，该组织在 2020 年的平均预期生育数为 1.59。

tips

fertility rate 生育率

aggravate v. 使恶化，惹恼

demographics n. 人口学，人口统计结果