跌破0.8！韓國總和生育率創全球新低

原標題：跌破0.8！韓國總和生育率創全球新低

(Bloomberg) -- South Korea’s fertility rate, the world’s lowest for years, has fallen again, aggravating the challenges of aging demographics for the economy.

（彭博社）——韓國的生育率，多年來一直是全球最低，今年再次下降，加劇了經濟面臨的老齡化人口挑戰。

The number of babies expected per woman fell to 0.78 last year, according to data released by the statistics office on Wednesday. At 0.81 in 2021, it was already the lowest among more than 260 nations tracked by the World Bank.

根據統計局於周三發布的數據，去年每位女性的預期生育數量降至0.78個。而在2021年，該數字已經是世界銀行跟蹤的260多個國家中最低的0.81了。

A shrinking workforce is a major cause of Korea’s declining potential growth rate. The working-age population peaked at 37.3 million in 2020 and is set to fall by almost half by 2070, according to Statistics Korea.

勞動力萎縮是潛在增長率下降的主要原因。根據韓國統計局的數據，韓國的勞動年齡人口在2020年達到3730萬的峰值，到2070年將減少近一半。

The number of newborns declined last year to 249,000 from 260,600 a year earlier, the statistics office said. That’s less than 5% of the population. In contrast, about 373,000 people died last year, extending what one policymaker called a 「death cross.」

去年新生兒數量從前一年的26.06萬下降到了24.9萬，統計局表示，這不到總人口的5%。與此形成對比，去年約有37.3萬人死亡，達到了一名政策制定者所稱的「死亡交叉點」。

Korea has the world’s fastest-shrinking population among economies with per capita gross domestic product of at least $30,000, according to United Nations projections and World Bank data. By 2100, the number of people is projected to fall by 53% to 24 million.

根據聯合國的預測和世界銀行的數據，在人均國內生產總值至少為3萬美元的經濟體中，韓國是人口減少最快的國家。到2100年，人口預計將下降53%至2400萬人。