한은, "코로나가 혼인•출산 막아…2022년까지 영향"
The COVID-19 pandemic is expected to force South Korea's already chronically-low birth rate even lower... and speed up the aging population.
According the Bank of Korea Wednesday, the pandemic is likely to expedite the existing downward trend in birthrates as fewer couples get married.
The BOK says the demographic impact will last for at least two years.
It added that, in 2022, the country's fertility rate is forecast to fall below zero-point-7-2, lower than an earlier projection made by Statistics Korea.