S. KOREA’S POPULATION DECREASES

[Anchor Lead]

Korea’s population decreased for the first time in history last year. The phenomenon of new births outnumbering deaths, the so-called dead-cross, has occurred for the first time. The number of new births in Korea dipped below 300,000, indicating an acceleration of aging of Korean society.

[Pkg]

In 2020, the South Korean population stood at 51 million, 829,023. With a 20,838 on-year decline, it's the nation's first population decline. The number of new births fell dramatically. At more than a 10% decline on-year, it dipped below the 300,000 mark for the first time. This has led to the so-called population dead-cross in which deaths outnumber births. The continued low birth rate accelerated the aging of society. Those 60 and older accounts for nearly a quarter of the entire population, while teens and younger make up just 16.9%. Compared to a decade ago, the 60-plus population increased 8.2% points while the number of teenagers and younger children fell by 5.5%. The number of households continued to rise to reach a record high. More than 600,000 households were added to the total in just one year. The trend is driven by the dramatic spike in the number of single-person households, which exceeded 9 million for the first time in history. The number of households with more than four members continued to shrink. The average household size stands at a new record low of 2.24 members. This count has been falling steadily since 2011.

[Soundbite] LEE JI-SEONG(MINISTRY OF THE INTERIOR AND SAFETY) : "The number of new births is expected to fall even more over the next 2 to 3 years. So we need to quickly devise additional measures to complement the existing policies on low birth rate."

Experts note that policies must be changed in related areas such as designing new housing plans to accommodate more families and devising welfare programs for the increased elderly population.