In spite of an unacceptably low birthrate, South Korea is taking steps to address its aging population. In order to strengthen relationships between ministries on population policies, the country's presidential committee for ageing society and population policy established a planning team that is jointly managed by the finance and health ministries.
With the average fertility rate in South Korea falling to a record low of 0.78 in 2022—the number of children a Korean woman would typically have in her lifetime—the country is experiencing a reproductive crisis. According to Yonhap News Agency, the replacement level would need to be at 2.1 in order to maintain the nation's population at slightly over 50 million people.
By 2025, the nation would likely have a "super-aged" society, the committee said. The proportion of seniors aged 65 and over in the nation's population will then be around one-fifth.
Reviewing and implementing policies to address the low birthrate, as well as addressing the issues connected with an aging society and demographic structure changes, will be part of the team's goal.
“We plan to thoroughly analyze and cope with the social-economic impacts and risks of the changing population structure,” according to a statement by Deputy Finance Minister Bang Ki-sun, who is also the co-head of the committee.
Bang continued by saying that the administration will soon release more information on the scheme.
With only over 21,000 newborns born in March 2023, the birthrate in South Korea was the lowest it had been every month since monthly data collection started in 1981, according to recent official statistics. This is a decline of more than 8% from the same month last year.
Additionally, this number has been declining for 88 straight months.
Government data that was independently revealed last week makes the long-term situation appear much more difficult. By 2070, it is predicted that over 46% of South Koreans would be 65 years old or older, according to the Korea Times.
The U.S. fertility rate in 2020 was 1.6, the lowest in the country's history and a significant decrease from 3.7 in 1960. The average fertility rate in Europe is 1.5. The Lancet Study notes that Japan's fertility rate is now 1.3, ranking among the top 10 nations. Depending on the source, China's fertility rate ranges from 1.3 to 1.5, while other estimates have it as low as 1.15.
The fertility rate in Russia is 1.6. Russia now has a significant birth-to-death ratio, and by 2050, it is expected to lose up to one-third of its population. According to a January Foreign Policy article, Russia's declining population will soon make it difficult for it to field enough troops for a significant military battle, which is probably why it has recently threatened to deploy nuclear weapons.
The typical woman had 5.2 children worldwide in 1960. By 2050, that number is expected to drop to 2.2, or just at replacement level globally, from its current level of 2.4. According to the Lancet, taking into consideration current trends in urbanization, women's education, employment involvement, and access to birth control, worldwide fertility will reach 1.66 by the year 2100.
In his March 2022 report titled "Consequences of a Declining Population," Stanford University economist Charles I. Jones argues that the difference between exponential growth in both population and living standards and an empty planet, where incomes stagnate and the population vanishes, is the birth rate dropping from 5 to below 2. "Economic growth stagnates as the stock of knowledge and living standards settle down to constant values," argues Jones. Meanwhile, the population itself is declining steadily, progressively depopulating the globe.
