A recent report shows that the nationwide student population has been on a declining trend for 35 years as the birth rate also drops.

According to the education ministry and the Korean Educational Development Institute on Tuesday, the number of kindergarten, elementary, middle school and high school students across the nation stood at five-point-88 million as of April this year, down one-point-three percent on-year. 

The figure has been steadily decreasing since 1986, when it peaked at over 10 million students.

Due to the fall in the number of students, the number of schools has also been declining, now standing at 20-thousand-696, down 76 from last year overall, including a loss of 188 kindergartens over the past year.

However, the number of multicultural students continues to climb year-on-year since 2012, with around 168-thousand students from diverse families enrolled in school, making up three-point-two percent of all students.