People walk past street stalls at Namdaemun Market in Seoul, South Korea, on June 20, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

SEOUL - South Korea's births kept falling for the 91st consecutive month, leading to continued slide in population, statistical office data showed Wednesday.

The number of newborn babies retreated 1.6 percent over the year to 18,615 in June, according to Statistics Korea.

The newborns have been on the decline since December 2015 as more young people delayed or gave up on having children due to economic difficulties such as high housing prices and stubborn unemployment.

The number of marriages gained 7.8 percent from a year earlier to 16,053 in June, and the number of divorces rose 2.7 percent to 7,791

The low birth rate fueled worry about the demographic cliff, which refers to a sharp fall in the heads of households eventually leading to a consumption cliff.

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The number of marriages gained 7.8 percent from a year earlier to 16,053 in June, and the number of divorces rose 2.7 percent to 7,791.

The number of deaths increased 7.6 percent to 26,820 in the cited month.

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Affected by the high deaths and the sliding births, the country's population continued to fall for the 44th successive month since November 2019.