S. Korea's economy to grow 0.5 pct in 2050 on low birth rates

SEJONG, Nov. 8 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's economy is expected to rise 0.5 percent on-year in 2050 due to the country's aging population and chronically low birth rates, a state-run think-tank said Tuesday.

The South Korean economy is expected to grow around 2 percent annually from 2023 to 2027, but it will continue to lose steam starting in the 2030s due to a sharp demographic change, according to the report by the Korea Development Institute (KDI).

Asia's No. 4 economy has been suffering from a decline in childbirths as many people delay or give up on getting married or having babies in the face of an economic slowdown

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.

The KDI advised that South Korea needs to improve its total factor productivity by making the market more accessible for foreigners and easing corporate regulations.

TFP is a measure of productivity calculated by dividing total production by the weighted average of inputs and is designed to help explain the role of factors, such as technology and innovation, in growth.

The think tank also suggested that South Korea needs to cope with shortages in the labor force by accepting more immigrants.

colin@yna.co.kr
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