SEOUL, April 25 (Xinhua) -- Childbirth in South Korea kept a downward trend in February, boosting worry about low growth potential amid a falling workforce, statistics data showed on Wednesday.
The number of newborn babies was 27,500 in February, down 9.8 percent, or 3,000, from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea. It was the lowest February figure since the agency began compiling the data in 1981.
The childbirth kept falling for 27 months since December 2015 as women of childbearing age continue to delay marriage and the first childbirth.
The number of marriage tumbled 11.6 percent year on year to 19,000 in February. For the first two months of this year, the number of marriage dropped to the lowest level of 43,400.
South Korea's childbirth maintained a downward trend since 2013 except for the increase of 3,000 in 2015.
The low birth rate and the falling marriage number have been a headache for the South Korean economy with its dropping number of workforce and the fast-aging population. Those negative factors would drag down the economy's growth potential, experts say.
The number of divorce also plunged 13.5 percent year on year to 7,700 in February, marking the lowest February figure in 21 years.
