The number of marriages and births is dropping despite the government spending of more than 80 trillion won ($74 billion) to address the problem of the low birthrate.

Data from Statistics Korea showed 30,000 newborns in March, down 9.6 percent, or 3,200 fewer babies, from the same month last year. The number of babies born in the first quarter of this year also fell 9.2 percent from the same period of last year to stand at 89,600.

These were historically low numbers for the month of March and signaled a continuing downward trend since March 2015.

Pregnancies fell across all age groups except for women in their 40s. Women were likely to give birth once throughout their life.

Fewer people are also getting married, the data showed. There were 22,800 marriages in March, 500 weddings fewer than March of last year. It also marks the lowest number of unions for March.

The number of deaths grew 4.1 percent from last year to stand at 25,200 deaths in March. There were a total of 81,800 deaths in the first three months of 2018, indicating nearly 9,000 more deaths compared to the first quarter of 2017.

yjc@docdocdoc.co.kr

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