The rate of on-year decline in newborns was the largest in 15 years in August.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 18-thousand-984 babies were born in August, down 12-point-eight percent from a year earlier to post the lowest tally for the month since the state agency began compiling related data in 1981.

The decline was also the biggest since the number of newborns fell 14-point-two percent on-year in August 2008.

The crude birth rate, the annual number of live births per one-thousand people, stood at four-point-four, down zero-point-six from a year ago to also hit a record low for August.

The number of deaths, on the other hand, rose one-point-seven percent to 30-thousand-540, with the population naturally declining for the 46th month since November 2019.