According to the Vital Statistics by Statistics Korea on the crude birth rate(‰)* and total fertility rate** from 2000 to 2016, the crude birth rate which is the number of live births occurring among the population during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year total population during the same year was 7.0 as of 2017. This figure was significantly reduced from 11.7 in 2001, the lowest compared to 9.0 in 2005, 9.4 in 2010, and 8.6 in 2015. The crude birth rate for 2017 was 0.9 less compared to 7.9 in 2016.

The total fertility rate since the 2000s has also been decreasing although it has seen a slight increase year by year. The total fertility rate, which stood at 1.31 in 2001, was 1.09 in 2005, increased slightly to 1.26 in 2007 after the lowest level of the year, but was soon reduced to 1.15 in 2009. After that, the number of births has not increased significantly, with 1.19 in 2013 and 1.24 in 2015, and the total fertility rate has been below 1.3 since 2001. In 2017, the total fertility rate was only 1.05, which is still very low and the lowest during the survey period.  

* Crude birth rate: A basic indicator of the fertility level of a particular population group, showing the number of live births occurring among the population during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year total population during the same year. This is calculated by the following formula:

Crude Birth Rate = (Number of births during a specified year/Total number of the mid-year population of the same year)*1000

** The total fertility rate is the average number of children that would be born of a woman through her lifetime from birth to the end of her reproductive life (Age 15-49).

※ When quoting graphs and articles from 'Statistics Report', please cite your source as GSIS(Gender Statistics Information System) in Korean Women's Development Institute.

[ 2019.03.20 ]