South Korea Notes That More Citizens Are Dying Than Giving Birth

Ilustrasi (Unsplash / Fé Ngo)

JAKARTA - For the first time, South Korea recorded that more people died than people who gave birth in 2020. The question is, is the COVID-19 pandemic a factor in South Korea's high death rate?

Launching CNN, Tuesday, January 5, 2021, for years South Korea has struggled to overcome a demographic crisis. The country's fertility rate --the average number of children a woman has over her lifetime - has repeatedly hit record lows.

South Korea's fertility rate is the lowest in the world. Therefore, South Korea is pushing to revive the fertility rate of its country.

Last year's census data, released by the South Korean Ministry of Interior and Safety on Monday January 4, 2021, looks even more worrying. There are only 275,815 birth data. The number is much smaller than the death rate which reached 307,764.

During 2020 the death rate in South Korea increased 3.1 percent from the previous year. This is the first time South Korea has reached a "population death cross," when the number of deaths exceeded births, the ministry said in a press release. While the population continues to age rapidly, the census shows: 32.7 percent of people are in their 40s and 50s and nearly a quarter are over 60.

"The constant decline in birth rates suggests that low birth rates remain a major problem in Korea," said the release. "There needs to be fundamental changes in government policies such as welfare, education and national defense."

The release did not mention the cause of death or how much influence the COVID-19 pandemic had on last year's figures. So far, the pandemic has killed 981 people in South Korea, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. But experts in South Korea have previously warned that the pandemic could reduce the number of births. This uncertain pandemic situation can make couples reluctant to have children.

Because of the pandemic?

According to a report by the Central Bank of Korea (December, 2020) warning of declining birth rates and aging population is likely to "increase" due to the impact of COVID-19. The pandemic is causing job and income insecurity for young adults in their 20s and 30s. This has the potential to interfere with their plans to start building a family. Economic concerns also cause couples to delay having children and in some cases, the temporary delays can become permanent.

The bank warned that South Korea may soon have the highest proportion of parents in the world. They are pushing for stronger policies and incentives to give birth.

Other countries with low fertility rates are also having a hard time, as demographics have been on the decline during the pandemic. Japan, which has struggled for years with a low birth rate and an aging population, saw a decline in the number of pregnancies and marriages reported in the first half of 2020.

In October 2020, Japanese Minister of State for Action to Decrease the Birth Rate Tetsushi Sakamoto said that the pandemic may make people reluctant to get pregnant and start families. The reason is also the same as in South Korea.

In an effort to combat the decline in birth and marriage rates, the South Korean government has implemented a number of initiatives and policies. In 2018, the government reduced the maximum working hours from 68 hours a week to 52 hours by 2020.