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South Korea ranks at the bottom among 193 countries with a fertility rate of 1.2 children born to a woman over her lifetime. But the country ranks 23rd in average life expectancy, at 79 years.
According to WHO statistics for 2008 released Tuesday, South Korea had the lowest birthrate alongside the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Ukraine at 1.2 as of 2006.
Other countries with a low birthrate are Japan, Singapore, Russia and Hungary (1.3) and Germany, Italy, Switzerland and Austria (1.4). Some advanced countries, however, enjoy a relatively higher birthrate. Among them are the U.S. with 2.1, France with 1.9, and the U.K., Sweden and Finland with 1.8.
The country with the highest birthrate is Niger (7.3), followed by Afghanistan (7.2). North Korea's birthrate is 1.9, down from 2 in 2000.
Meanwhile, the average life expectancy of South Koreans was 75 years for men and 82 years for women as of 2006. Japan had the longest life expectancy of 83 years for the second consecutive year.
Other countries with longer life expectancy than others are Australia, Monaco and Switzerland (82 years) and Israel, Italy, Spain and Sweden (81). At the bottom were Sierra Leone (40), Angola (41), and Swaziland, Niger and Afghanistan (42) with roughly half the life expectancy of countries where people live the longest. In North Korea, average life expectancy was 66 years (64 years for men and 68 years for women).
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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