South Korea has seen a decline in hospital services and clinics offering medical care for children and infants amid a shortage of pediatricians and a declining birth rate.
Over 550 pediatric clinics have closed in the past five years, exceeding the 519 clinics launched during that same period, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service revealed in May.
The decline in pediatric clinics comes as South Korea’s fertility rate—the average number of children born to a woman in her reproductive years—plunged to a new record low last year, dropping from 0.81 in 2021 to 0.78 last year.
The country has the lowest fertility rate when compared to other Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) member nations. The average fertility rate across all OECD nations is 1.59 as of 2020….