韩国统计厅发布的最新人口统计显示，韩国2023年第四季度的出生率为0.65，在韩国建国以来初次跌破0.7。同时，韩国第四季度新生儿人数为52618人，比一年前降低了3905人，同比降低6.9%，去年12月生的婴儿为16253名，比一年前降低了643名，同比降低3.8%。下面请看有关双语报道。
A woman pushing her baby in a stroller shops in the Hongdae area of Seoul, South Korea, June 29, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]
South Korea’s demographic crisis has deepened with the release of data showing its birthrate – already the world’s lowest – fell to a new record low in 2023, despite billions of dollars in government schemes designed to persuade families to have more children.
数据显示，韩国的人口危机进一步加深，尽管韩国政府拟定策略投入数十亿USD鼓励家庭多生小孩，韩国生育率2023年仍跌至历史新低。
Reports that South Korea’s population had shrunk for the fourth straight year came soon after neighbouring Japan reported a record decline in its population last year, along with a record fall in the number of births and the lowest number of marriages since the end of the second world war.
据报道，韩国人口连续第四年降低，此前不久，邻国日本报告称该国去年人口降幅创历史纪录、出生人数降幅创纪录、结婚人数则降至二战结束以来的最低水平。
The average number of children a South Korean woman has during her lifetime fell to 0.72, from 0.78 in 2022 – a decline of nearly 8% – according to preliminary data from Statistics Korea, a government-affiliated body. The rate is well below the average of 2.1 children the country needs to maintain its current population of 51 million.
韩国政府下属机构韩国统计厅的初步数据显示，韩国女人一生中的平均子女数目从2022年的0.78个降低到0.72个，降低了近8%。这一比率远低于该国保持现有5100万人口所需的2.1名儿童的平均水平。
Since 2018, South Korea has been the only member of the Organisation for economic Co-Operation and Development to have a rate below 1. In addition, South Korean women give birth for the first time at the average age of 33.6 – the highest among OECD members.
自2018年以来，韩国是经济合作与进步组织中唯一一个失业率低于1的成员国。除此之外，韩国女人初次分娩的平均年龄为33.6岁，在经合组织成员国中最高。
If the low fertility rate persists, the population of Asia’s fifth-biggest economy is projected to almost halve to 26.8 million by 2100, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and evaluation at the university of Washington in Seattle.
依据西雅图华盛顿大学健康指标与评估研究所的数据，假如低生育率持续下去，这个亚洲第五大经济体的人口预计到2100年将几乎减半，只剩下2680万。
Lim Young-il, head of the population census pision at Statistics Korea, told reporters: “The number of newborns in 2023 was 230,000, which was 19,200 fewer than the year before, representing a 7.7% decrease.”
韩国统计厅人口普查处处长林英一告诉记者：“2023年韩国新生儿人数为23万，比前一年降低了19200人，降低7.7%。”
Since 2006 the government has invested more than 360tn won in programmes to encourage couples to have more children, including cash subsidies, babysitting services and support for infertility treatment.
自2006年以来，政府已在鼓励夫妇生育的项目上投资超越360万亿韩元，包含现金补贴、保姆服务和不孕不育治疗支持。
South Korea’s major political parties are showcasing policies to stem population decline ahead of April’s national as百度竞价推广bly election, including more public housing and easier loans, in the hope of dampening growing alarm that the country is facing “national extinction”.
韩国各主要政党在4月的国民议会选举前展示了遏制人口降低的政策，包含增加公共住房和更容易的贷款，期望能缓解大家对该国正面临“民族灭绝”的日益担心。
重点词语
South Korea韩国南韩坐落于东亚的国家
the fourth第四个
along with伴随随同…一块，跟…一块
the number数目数目号码数字人数
second world war第二次世界大战二战二次世界大战纪念第二次世界大战
average number平均数平均次数平均数目
according to依据根据按根据据
preliminary data初步数据初步资料初始数据预备数据
below the average低于平均水平在一般水平以下普通以下
current population现有人口目前人口
英文来源：卫报
