Korea's childbirths fall for 2nd month in Sept.

The number of childbirths in South Korea fell for the second month in a row in September, a government report showed Wednesday, a worrisome development for a country struggling with an aging population.
  

In September, some 36,500 babies were born here, down 3.7 percent from the same month last year, according to the report from Statistics Korea.
  

The annual decrease comes after a 3.6 percent on-year drop in August that followed five straight months of gains.
  

South Korea, whose population is expected to peak in 2030, has been trying to push up its birthrate to prevent a decline in the national workforce, which could result in more welfare expenses and damage the country's growth potential. The country has one of the lowest birthrates among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development member states.
  

The statistical agency said there were no clear cut reasons for the dip.

For the first nine months of 2015, childbirths edged up 0.7 percent on-year to about 336,400 babies, according to the report.
  

In 2014, 435,400 babies were born in Asia's fourth-largest economy, down 0.2 percent on-year. The drop also followed a 9.9 percent plunge in the previous year.
  

The latest report then showed about 19,000 couples tied the knot in September, down 1.6 percent from a year earlier.
  

The number of newlyweds is a good indicator of future childbirths as very few children are born to single-parent families here.
  

The number of marriages dropped 5.4 percent last year to 305,500, following a 1.3 percent contraction in 2013.
  

For the January-August period, about 220,300 couples got married, down 0.1 percent from the same period last year.
  

In September, the number of divorces fell 11.1 percent on-year to about 8,800. In the January-September period, the number of divorces shrank 6.7 percent on-year to about 80,500.
  

The number of deaths, meanwhile, edged up 0.9 percent on-year to some 21,400 during the month. Total deaths in the country hit 206,700 as of September, an increase of 4.2 percent vis-a-vis the year before.
  

In a separate report, the statistics office said the number of people changing their homes backtracked 2.5 percent on-year to about 653,000 in October. This number, however, is up from 550,000 in September. (Yonhap)

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