The number of newborns in May plunged to a record low for the month as the population declined naturally for the 43rd consecutive month.

According to Statistics Korea on Wednesday, 18-thousand-988 babies were born in May, down five-point-three percent from a year earlier to hit a low for the month of May since the agency began compiling related data in 1981, and the first time the May tally fell under 20-thousand.

While the number of newborns has dropped for 90 straight months since December 2015, the crude birth rate, or the annual number of live births per one-thousand people, fell to a record low of four-point-four for May, down zero-point-two from last year.

The number of deaths, on the other hand, rose zero-point-two percent on-year to 28-thousand-958, hitting a record high for the month on the back of the aging population.

With deaths outnumbering births in May, the population naturally declined nine-thousand-970, continuing a 43-month downward streak that began in November of 2019.