Kim Jong Un calls for North Korean women to have more children to halt fall in birthrate

North Korea's Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un on Sunday (Dec 3) called on the country's women to have more children to halt a fall in the birthrate. Citing state media, the news agency Associated Press said on Monday that Kim's appeal was made during North Korea's National Mothers Meeting, the first of its kind in 11 years.

“Stopping the decline in birthrates and providing good child care and education are all our family affairs that we should solve together with our mothers,” Kim said in his opening speech as his government stepped up the call for the people to have more children.

Though it is difficult to get details on North Korea's population trends, South Korea assessed that North's fertility rate has declined steadily for the past 10 years, the report said.

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South Korea's government statistics agency said that North Korea's total fertility rate, or the average number of babies expected to be born to a woman over her lifetime, was at 1.79 in 2022, down from 1.88 in 2014.

This decline was slower than South, whose fertility rate last year was 0.78, down from 1.20 in 2014.

Citing observers, the Associated Press reported that while North Korea is one of the poorest countries globally, the change in its demographic structure is similar to that of rich countries.

“Many families in North Korea also don’t intend to have more than one child these days as they know they need lots of money to raise their kids, send them to school and help them get jobs,” said Ahn Kyung-su, head of DPRKHEALTH.ORG.

In the 1970s-80s, North Korea implemented birth control programmes to slow post-war population growth. Seoul-based Hyundai Research Institute said in its report this August that the country's fertility rate recorded a major decline following a famine in the mid-1990s.

The institute said that given Pyongyang's lack of resources and technological advancements, it could face difficulties in reviving and developing its manufacturing industry if sufficient labour forces were not provided.

Recently, North Korea introduced a set of benefits for families with three or more children, including preferential free housing arrangements, state subsidies, and educational perks for children, state media reported.

(With inputs from agencies)