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Number of newborns lowest ever－南韓新生兒數創新低

精英翻譯社轉自http://iservice.ltn.com.tw/Service/english/english.php?engno=1180942&day=2018-03-04

◎茅毅

The number of newborns stood at 357,700 last year, falling below the 400,000 mark for the first time, according to Statistics Korea, Wednesday. The figure is also down 48,000 from 2016, the largest drop since 2002.

南韓統計廳週三指出，去年新生兒人數為35萬7700，首度跌破40萬大關，該數字亦比2016年減少4.8萬，創2002年以來最大降幅。

The average birthrate was 1.05, also the lowest figure since the government started collecting data. The rates in the country’s two largest cities _ Seoul and Busan _ were below one. "This is far worse than we ever anticipated. The demographic cliff scenario is likely to strike Korea earlier than expected," an official from the statistics agency said.

平均出生率為1.05，也是自南韓政府開始蒐集資料以來的最低數字，在該國兩個最大城市—首爾和釜山，平均出生率更不到1。一位統計廳官員表示，「這遠比我們預期的還嚴重，人口懸崖的情況很可能比預期提早影響韓國。」

The average age for a woman giving birth to her first baby was 32.6 in 2017, up 0.2 from a year earlier. In contrast, the mortality rate jumped to a record high last year reflecting the aging society, and indicating the nation is starting to go over to the demographic cliff. The country’s net population growth stood at 72,000 last year, also the lowest figure Statistics Korea has seen.

去年南韓婦女生第一胎的平均年齡為32.6歲，年增0.2歲，反觀去年死亡率則創新高，反映出高齡化社會的現象，並顯示該國正開始走向人口懸崖，其去年淨人口成長為7.2萬人，亦是南韓統計廳歷來最低數字。