South Korean population shrinks amid declining birthrate

Marriage is on the decline in South Korea, leading to a drop in births

Credit: Kim Hong-ji/Reuters

South Korea’s population contracted for the first time in the country’s history in 2020, as Asia’s fourth largest economy struggled with the convergence of an alarmingly low birth rate and a rapidly aging society. 

According to census figures released by the interior ministry on Sunday, the East Asian nation’s population has fallen by 20,838 to 51,829,023 since the end of 2019.  

The decline was caused largely by an elevated number of deaths surpassing the number of births, reported the Yonhap News Agency, with the birthrate plummeting by 10.65 percent over 2020. 

The South Korean capital, Seoul, saw its population drop by a little over 60,000. South Korea, alongside its East Asian neighbours Japan and Taiwan, faces a demographic timebomb that has set off alarm bells among senior officials. 

"Amid the rapidly declining birth rate, the government needs to undertake fundamental changes to its relevant policies," the interior ministry said in a statement on Sunday. 

Academics have also warned that the country is hurtling towards a “super-aged” status – where more than 20% of the total population is aged 65 years and older – that will increase the burden on local authorities, the healthcare system, and see pensions reduced. 

According to an article published in June in Springer by experts Kee Whan Kim, and Oh Seok Kim, from Korea University, 16 rural regions were set to become super-aged last year, followed by the rest of the country, including metropolitan areas, by 2029.  

Their study warns that one unintended consequence will be a drop in blood supplies for medical transfusions, that will impact cancer treatment. 

Last year an annual report by the UN World Population Fund revealed South Korea to have the world’s lowest birth rate. 

The government has sought to mitigate the problem with financial incentives to encourage young families to have more children. 

In December, it announced a new policy to provide $275 as a monthly bonus to all infants in the first year after their birth, starting in 2022. The amount is projected to increase to $457 by 2025. 

However, many young women are increasingly rejecting the idea of traditional marriages and family lives, where they are often expected to bear the brunt of domestic chores as well as managing their own career. 

The shunning of conventional family expectations has coincided with a growing feminist movement that is pushing back against unfair wages, inequality in the workplace and pervasive sexual harassment.