双语阅读|South Korea’s fertility rate sinks to record low despite $270bn in incentives

韩国2023年生育率创新低 South Korea’s fertility rate sinks to record low despite $270bn in incentives

数据显示，韩国的人口危机进一步加深，尽管韩国政府投入数百万亿韩元鼓励家庭多生孩子，韩国生育率（全球最低）2023年仍跌至历史新低。据报道，韩国人口连续第四年减少，2023年韩国新生儿人数为23万，比前一年减少了19200人，下降7.7%。

A woman pushing her baby in a stroller shops in the Hongdae area of Seoul, South Korea, June 29, 2016. [Photo/Agencies]

South Korea’s demographic crisis has deepened with the release of data showing its birthrate – already the world’s lowest – fell to a new record low in 2023, despite billions of dollars in government schemes designed to persuade families to have more children.
数据显示，韩国的人口危机进一步加深，尽管韩国政府制定方案投入数十亿美元鼓励家庭多生孩子，韩国生育率（全球最低）2023年仍跌至历史新低。

Reports that South Korea’s population had shrunk for the fourth straight year came soon after neighbouring Japan reported a record decline in its population last year, along with a record fall in the number of births and the lowest number of marriages since the end of the second world war.
据报道，韩国人口连续第四年减少，此前不久，邻国日本报告称该国去年人口降幅创历史纪录、出生人数降幅创纪录、结婚人数则降至二战结束以来的最低水平。

The average number of children a South Korean woman has during her lifetime fell to 0.72, from 0.78 in 2022 – a decline of nearly 8% – according to preliminary data from Statistics Korea, a government-affiliated body. The rate is well below the average of 2.1 children the country needs to maintain its current population of 51 million.
韩国政府下属机构韩国统计厅的初步数据显示，韩国女性一生中的平均子女数量从2022年的0.78个下降到0.72个，下降了近8%。这一比率远低于该国维持现有5100万人口所需的2.1名儿童的平均水平。

Since 2018, South Korea has been the only member of the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) to have a rate below 1. In addition, South Korean women give birth for the first time at the average age of 33.6 – the highest among OECD members.
自2018年以来，韩国是经济合作与发展组织（OECD）中唯一一个生育率低于1的成员国。此外，韩国女性首次分娩的平均年龄为33.6岁，在OECD成员国中最高。

If the low fertility rate persists, the population of Asia’s fifth-biggest economy is projected to almost halve to 26.8 million by 2100, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.
根据西雅图华盛顿大学健康指标与评估研究所的数据，如果低生育率持续下去，这个亚洲第五大经济体的人口预计到2100年将几乎减半，只剩下2680万。

Lim Young-il, head of the population census division at Statistics Korea, told reporters: “The number of newborns in 2023 was 230,000, which was 19,200 fewer than the year before, representing a 7.7% decrease.”
韩国统计厅人口普查处处长林英一(音译)告诉记者：“2023年韩国新生儿人数为23万，比前一年减少了19200人，下降7.7%。”

Since 2006 the government has invested more than 360tn won ($270bn) in programmes to encourage couples to have more children, including cash subsidies, babysitting services and support for infertility treatment.
自2006年以来，政府已在鼓励夫妇生育的项目上投资超过360万亿韩元（约合人民币19404亿元），包括现金补贴、保姆服务和不孕不育治疗支持。

South Korea’s major political parties are showcasing policies to stem 英 /stem/population decline ahead of April’s national assembly election, including more public housing and easier loans, in the hope of dampening growing alarm that the country is facing “national extinction”.
韩国各主要政党在4月国会选举前提出了遏制人口下降的政策，包括提供更多公共住房和更便捷的贷款，希望以此缓解人们对韩国正面临"民族灭绝"的日益恐慌。

英文来源：卫报

编辑：董静

stem

verb
stemmed, stemming T
1. to stop something from happening, spreading, or developing阻止，遏制，封堵:
stem the tide / flow / flood of sth

•The measures are meant to stem the tide of illegal immigration.这些措施旨在遏制非法移民潮。

stem the growth / rise / decline etc

•an attempt to stem the decline in profits遏制利润下滑的努力

2. formalto stop the flow of a liquid阻止，堵住，止住〔液体的流动〕:

•A tight bandage should stem the bleeding.扎紧的绷带可以止血。

dampen

1. to make something slightly wet使…潮湿;SYNmoisten
2. also dampen down BrEto make something such as a feeling or activity less strong抑制，减退〔热情、积极性等〕:

•The light rain dampened the crowd's enthusiasm.小雨使观众的热情减退了。

•Raising interest rates might dampen the economy.提高利率可能会抑制经济发展。

3. to make a sound or movement less loud or strong减低，控制〔音量或活动〕:

•The spring dampens the shock of the impact.弹簧减少碰撞造成的震动。

sink

 / sINk ; sINk /verb (past tense sank) / sa?k ; sa?k / (past participle sunk) / s??k ; s??k /
1. IN WATER 在水里, Ito go down below the surface of water, mud etc下沉，沉没;ANTfloat

•Their motorboat struck a rock and began to sink.他们的摩托艇触了礁，开始下沉。

•The kids watched as the coin sank to the bottom of the pool.孩子们看着那枚硬币沉到池底。

•The heavy guns sank up to their barrels in the mud.这些沉重的大炮深陷在泥里，只露出炮管。

2. BOAT 小船, Tto damage a ship so badly that it sinks使〔船〕沉没:

•A luxury yacht was sunk in a bomb attack yesterday.一艘豪华游艇在昨天的炸弹袭击事件中被击沉了。

3. MOVE LOWER 降低, Ito move downwards to a lower level下降，降低〔至某一高度〕:

•The sun was sinking behind the coconut palms.太阳西下，渐渐沉入椰子树后。

•Her chin sank onto her chest, and she looked despairing.她下巴耷拉到胸前，显得很绝望。

4. FALL / SIT DOWN 倒下/坐下, Ito fall down or sit down heavily, especially because you are very tired and weak倒下; 颓然坐下〔尤因非常疲倦或虚弱〕:
[+ into / to / down / back etc ]

•She let out a groan and sank into a chair.她呻吟了一声，颓然倒进椅子里。

•He let go of her shoulders and she sank at once to the floor.他松开她的肩膀，她顿时倒在地板上。

•Marion sank down on a rock, and wept.玛丽昂倒在一块岩石上，哭了起来。

•The minister sank to his knees (=he went down into a kneeling position) and prayed.牧师跪下来祷告。

5. GET WORSE 变坏, I always + adv / prepto gradually get into a worse condition衰退，恶化:
[+ into ]

•They lost all their money and sank into desperate poverty.他们赔光了所有的钱，变得一无所有。

•The good mood left me and I sank into depression.好心情离我而去，我陷入沮丧之中。

•The doctor said that the boy was sinking fast (=getting weaker and about to die) .医生说那男孩的病情在急剧恶化。

6. your heart sinks also your spirits sink used to say that you lose hope or confidence心情沉重，情绪低落〔用于表示失去信心或希望〕:

•His heart sank the way it always did when she left him.他心情沉重，她离开他时他总是这样。

•She felt desperately tired, and her spirits sank.她感到筋疲力尽，情绪低落。

7. LOWER AMOUNT / VALUE 数量减少/价值降低, Ito go down in amount or value减少，降低;SYNdrop; ANTrise

•Shares in the company have sunk as low as 620p.这家公司的股票跌到了 620 便士的低点。

[+ to ]

•The population of the village sank to just a few families.这个村子的人口已经减少到只剩几户人家了。

8. VOICE 声音, Iwrittenif your voice sinks, it becomes very quiet降低:
[+ to / into ]

•Her voice sank to a whisper.她的声音弱得成了耳语。

9. sinking feeling informalthe unpleasant feeling that you get when you suddenly realize that something bad is going to happen不祥的感觉，颓丧感:

•I had a sinking feeling inside as I realized I was going to fail yet again.我意识到自己又要失败，心里不安。

10. be sunk spokento be in a situation where you are certain to fail or have a lot of problems陷入麻烦:

•If I don't get paid by next week, I'll really be sunk.下星期再拿不到工资的话，我就惨了。

11. sink without trace especially BrE also sink like a stone especially AmEif something sinks without trace, it fails quickly or no one pays attention to it〔某物〕很快失败; 无人问津:

•He made a few records which all sank without trace.他录过几张唱片，但都无人问津。

12. sink so low also sink to doing sth to be dishonest enough or selfish enough to do something very bad or unfair不诚实（自私）到这种地步，堕落到干出这种事来;SYNstoop

•How could he have sunk so low?他怎么会堕落到这种地步？

13. USE SOMETHING SHARP 使用锋利的东西, Tto put your teeth or something sharp into someone's flesh, into food etc用〔牙〕咬;用〔尖锐的东西〕戳（捅）:
sink sth into sth

•The dog sank its teeth into my arm.那条狗在我的手臂上咬了一口。

•She sank her fork into the pie.她把叉子插进馅饼里。

14. DIG INTO GROUND 挖进地里, Tif you sink something such as a well or part of a building, you dig a hole to put it into the ground挖，掘〔井、洞等〕:

•A well was sunk in the back garden, and water could be pumped up into the kitchen.后花园里挖了口井，可以把水抽上来送到厨房。

15. sink or swim to succeed or fail without help from anyone else沉浮全凭自己，成败全靠自己:

•They don't give you a lot of guidance – you're just left to sink or swim, really.他们不会给你很多指导 — 成败全靠你自己，真的。

16. MONEY 钱, Tto spend a lot of money on something投入，投下〔大量金钱〕:
sink sth in / into sth

•They sank their entire savings into their house.他们把全部存款都投到他们的房子上了。

17. BALL 球, Tto put a ball into a hole or basket in games such as golf or basketball将〔球〕击入洞中; 将〔球〕投入篮中
18. sink your differences BrEto agree to stop arguing and forget about your disagreements, especially in order to unite and oppose someone else摒弃分歧，摒除歧见〔尤指为了联合对付别人〕:

•Nations must sink their differences to achieve greater security.各国必须摒弃分歧，才能获得更高程度的安全。

19. DRINK 喝, TBrE informalto drink alcohol, especially in large quantities〔尤指大量地〕喝〔酒〕:

•We sank a few pints at the pub first.我们先在酒馆里喝了几品脱啤酒。

halve
halve / hAv ; hB:v /verb T
1. to reduce something by a half将…减半:

•Cash cuts have halved the number of places available on training courses.经费削减使培训名额减少了一半。

2. to cut or divide something into two equal pieces把…分成两半，对半分:

•Halve the potatoes lengthwise.把马铃薯竖着切成两半。