The number of newborns in South Korea hit a new low for the month of January as the natural population decline extended to a 39-month streak.

According to data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 23-thousand-179 babies were born in January, down six percent from a year earlier, marking the lowest figure for the month since the state agency began compiling related data in 1981.

The tally for newborns has seen an on-year decline for 86 straight months since December 2015, while the crude birth rate, which refers to the number of births per one-thousand people per year, posted a new low to stand at five-point-three in January.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths grew nine-point-six percent on-year to stand at 32-thousand-703, the highest figure ever for the month of January.

The agency said the number was driven by the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the continuous aging of the nation’s population.

With the number of deaths outpacing the number of births, the nation’s population decline came to nine-thousand-524, the sharpest fall witnessed for the month of January, to continue the negative growth trend that began in November of 2019.