South Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world

25 August, 2006
SOUTH KOREA
South Korea has the lowest birthrate in the world
by Theresa Kim Hwa-young

The 2006 World Population Report sets off alarm bells. Birthrate drops to 1.1 per couple as the elderly component of the population grows. Government and religious leaders, who call for greater collaboration, are worried.

Seoul (AsiaNews) – South Korea has the world’s lowest birthrate according to the 2006 World Population Report released last week by the Population Reference Bureau (PRB). South Korean women give birth to an average 1.1 children; only Hong Kong and Macao have lower birthrates but are considered part of China.

Despite the government's efforts, the birthrate was lower than last year’s 1.2; consequently, the rate of population increase was only 0.4 per cent. And the PRB expects the population to decrease by 13 per cent from the current 48 to 42.3 million by 2050.

South Koreans 65 and over today constitute 10 per cent of the population and the average life expectancy is 74 years for men and 77 for women.

Despite its one-child policy and its attempts to limit the number of newborns, China’s birthrate hovers around 1.6 per cent. In North Korea, it stands at 2.

Over the years, a concerned South Korean government has adopted various measures to boost the birthrate such as tax breaks for parents, social insurance benefits, and subsidies for childcare expenses.

Religious leaders have also joined the fray to voice their concerns. At a recent TV forum, representatives from the country’s main religious denominations have called for “full collaboration” between government, families and religious groups, pointing out the seriousness of the issue.

What's the birthrate for Macau?

North Vietnam: a diocese “saved” by prayer

Hanoi (AsiaNews) – Decades without priests, who were on the run from the Communist north, did not prevent the diocese of Bac Ninh in Vietnam from keeping its faith alive. Lay people pressed ahead with common prayers despite a thousand difficulties. Thanks to their perseverance, this community saw the dawn of the Vietnamese church, which now has more than 123,000 believers, 27 priests and 299 sisters, out of a population of more than six million. But the most encouraging statistic lies in more than 4,500 youth who attend catechism classes.
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After the great 1954 migration from the Communist north to the south of Vietnam, for years, most of the parishes had no priests to say mass or to teach catechism to children. Lay people however persisted in praying, organizing meetings in the early morning or at night.

If only we in the United States had faith like that.