The number of newborn babies in South Korea continued to fall by double digits in July amid rising concerns that the country will likely see record-low numbers in 2017, government data showed Wednesday.

About 29,400 babies were born in the month, down 13.3 percent, or 4,500, from 33,900 tallied a year earlier, according to the data by Statistics Korea.

The July figure marks a slight increase from the previous month's 28,900, the second-lowest monthly childbirths in history. The all-time low was tallied in December last year when 27,400 babies were born in the country.
 

It is the first time that the number of childbirths remained below the 30,000 level for two straight months.

South Korea has seen its childbirths remain on a steep downside cycle since the 3.4 percent on-year gain in November 2015, with numbers falling sharply starting last December.

Also the number of newborn kids is expected to reach around 360,000 for 2017, breaking the current record low of 406,200 babies tallied in 2016.

The low birthrate has been one of the most pressing issues for decades in South Korea, coupled with an increased aging population. Many are worried that low births will drag down the workforce in Asia's fourth-largest economy and drive up welfare costs, undermining the growth potential of the economy.

The statistics data also showed that the number of marriages fell 10.4 percent on-year, or 2,200, to a 10-month low of 19,000 in July due to the leap month in the lunar calendar.

At the same time, 8,200 couples divorced over the cited period, down 5.7 percent from a year earlier.

The number of deaths came to 22,300 for the month, up 0.9 percent from a year earlier, the data showed. (Yonhap)