By Here is some interesting demographic data coming out of South Korea:
The number of international marriages between South Korean citizens and foreign nationals increased from 12,188 in 1998 to 38,491 in 2007.
New demographic data released yesterday reveals Korea to be a society undergoing a period of rapid change. Not only is the country’s population increasing as a whole, the foreign population has grown fourfold in the last eight years and the number of international marriages has increased 2.5 times from six years ago. (…..)
The number of registered foreigners rose to some 854,000 people last year, accounting for 1.8 percent of total population. That compares with some 210,000 foreigners residing in South Korea in 2000. (…..)
The National Statistical Office released the new data yesterday as part of its 2008 Society Index. [Hankyoreh]
Read the rest of the article that is filled with lots more demographic data such as the rising life expectancy rate in South Korea. However, here is a stat I found of interest:
The sex ratio at birth was 106.1 boys to 100 girls, within the normal ratio of between 103 and 107.
Any guesses on why South Korea has such an abnormal sex ratio at birth?
1:27 am on February 22nd, 2009 1
"Any guesses on why South Korea has such an abnormal sex ratio at birth?"
Don't you mean had? 106.1 is within the normal range, as the article correctly stated, and almost as low as that of the United States, about 105. The number of male births per 100 female births has dropped dramatically since a high of 117 in the early 1990s. The low end of the normal range, 103, should not be taken as ideal. It may reflect a decrease in male births owing to endocrine disruptors, a type of environmental pollutant shown to cause sex changes in animals and fertility problems in humans, including a reduction in the number of male births.