South Korea’s population logged the first fall last year due to chronically low childbirths and a rapidly ageing population, statistical office data showed Thursday.

According to Statistics Korea, the country’s population totalled 51.74 million on November 1, 2021, down 91,000 from a year ago.

It marked the first decline since the statistical agency began to compile censuses in 1949.

The population included South Korean nationals and foreign residents who stayed there for over three months.

The number of South Korean nationals reduced by 45,000 over the year to 50.09 million last year, while the reading of foreign residents retreated by 46,000 to 1.65 million.

The population fall was attributable to the chronically low birthrate, caused by the younger generation who delayed or gave up on getting married or having babies amid the soaring housing prices and economic hardships.

Ageing also contributed to the lower population.

South Korea was widely forecast to become a super-aged society in 2025, in which the portion of those aged 65 or higher reaches 20 per cent of the total population.

(Xinhua/NAN)