"Sudden Stop in Baby Cries"... October Births Fall Below 20,000 for the First Time

Natural Population Decline for the 4th Consecutive Year

The number of births in October fell below 20,000 for the first time in history.

According to the 'October 2023 Population Trends' released by Statistics Korea on the 27th, the number of births in October this year was 18,904, a decrease of 1,742 (8.4%) compared to the same month last year. This is the first time the number of births has dropped below 20,000 during this period.

The number of deaths was 30,793, an increase of 1,003 (3.4%) compared to the same month last year. With births decreasing and deaths increasing, the natural population decline in October was 11,889. This marks four consecutive years (48 months) of natural population decline since November 2019.

The natural population decline was 57,118 in 2021, followed by 123,753 last year, and from January to October this year, a cumulative natural decline of 94,270 occurred, indicating that the overall natural decline this year is expected to be greater than last year.

By region, all provinces except Sejong experienced natural population decline, with particularly high decline rates in Gangwon (-6.0%), Jeonbuk (-6.3%), Jeonnam (-6.8%), and Gyeongbuk (-6.1%).

The number of marriages in October was 15,986, an increase of 1.0% compared to the same month last year, and the number of divorces was 7,916, an increase of 6.0% compared to the same month last year.