A new report has assessed that if South Korea’s fertility rate fails to rebound, the nation’s population aged 14 and under will shrink by half in 2040. 

The report, released by the National Assembly Budget Office on Tuesday, was based on the assumption that the nation’s total fertility rate will bottom out in 2024 after reaching zero-point-seven and that such figure will remain unchanged.

The total fertility rate refers to the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime. 

The report estimated that the nation’s total population would decline more than five percent compared to 2020 to stand at 49-point-16 million in 2040, with drastic decline among children and teenagers. 

The report forecast that the nation’s population aged 14 and under would shrink by 49-point-six percent from 2020 to reach three-point-18 million in 2040 while the population aged six and under would stand at one-point-three million, or less than half of some two-point-six million posted in 2020.