A public postnatal care center / Courtesy of South Jeolla Province

The number of babies born in Korea touched an all-time low in August with deaths soaring to a record high amid rapid aging and the COVID-19 pandemic, data showed Wednesday.

A total of 21,758 babies were born in August, down 2.4 percent from the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

It marked the lowest number for any August since the statistics agency started compiling related data in 1981. But it was up from 20,441 newborns in July.

Korea remains dogged by a chronic decline in childbirths as many young people delay or give up on getting married or having babies in the face of an economic slowdown and high home prices, combined with changing social norms about marriage.

The country broke its own record for the world's lowest childbirths last year.

Its total fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― came to 0.81 children in 2021, down from 0.84 the previous year. Last year marked the fourth straight year that the number was below 1.

Rapid aging and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic also pushed up the number of deaths to a record high in August.

A total of 30,001 people died in the month, up 15.8 percent from a year earlier. It marked the highest figure for any August and also represented the 18th straight month of increase.

As the number of deaths outpaced that of births, the nation's population declined by 8,243 in August, marking the 34th consecutive month of fall.

Korea reported the first natural fall in its population in 2020, as the grim demographic trend has continued.

Meanwhile, the data showed the number of marriages rising 6.8 percent on-year to 15,718 in August as more people tied the knot amid softer COVID-19 rules.

Divorces inched down 1.8 percent on-year to 8,227 in the month. (Yonhap)