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Nurses and other health professionals look after newborns in the maternity ward of a postpartum care facility in Seoul in February. (Yonhap)

The number of live births in Korea fell below 20,000 in February, a record low for the month.

According to a report on population trends for February published by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, there were 19,362 live births that month, representing a 3.3% decrease from February of last year. That was the fewest live births in the month of February since the Korean government began tracking the figure in 1981, as well as the first time the February live births figure has dropped below 20,000.

The provisional figure for live births in February 2023 (published that April) had also clocked in below 20,000 (19,939), but the official figure was later revised to 20,020.

On a monthly basis, Korea has reported fewer than 20,000 live births in April through December 2023 and June, November and December 2022.

In regional terms, births increased in five cities and provinces (Seoul, Incheon, North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla Province and Jeju Island) and fell in the other 12, including Gyeonggi Province and Busan.

The monthly live births figure has posted a year-over-year decrease for 17 months in a row, since October 2022. The month with the fewest births so far was December 2023, when there were just 16,253. At this rate, Korea is set to report its lowest number of live births ever this year, replacing last year’s record low of 229,970 births.

There were 29,977 deaths in February, up 9.6% from last year. As a result, Korea’s population in February underwent a natural decline of 10,614 people.

Natural population decline occurs when deaths outnumber births. That has been the case in Korea for 52 months now, since November 2019.

By Ahn Tae-ho, staff reporter

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