The natural decrease in South Korea's population has reached 19-thousand so far this year, as the birth rate in October hit a record low.

The number of babies born in October fell 14-point-four percent from a year earlier to 21-thousand-934, according to Statistics Korea on Wednesday.

That is the lowest number of births ever for the month of October since the state agency began compiling related data in 1981.

The cumulative number of newborns so far this year totaled 233-thousand-702, with the yearly total forecast to fall short of 300-thousand.

The number of deaths exceeded births for the 12th consecutive month in October, while the population decline between January and October totaled 18-thousand-816, indicating that the country will likely see the first-ever yearly decline in 2020.