This is a demography of the population of South Korea including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population. In June 2012, South Korea's population reached 50 million, and by the end of 2016, South Korea's population peaked at about 51 million people. However, in recent years the total fertility rate (TFR) of South Korea has plummeted, leading some researchers to suggest that if current trends continue, the country's population will shrink to approximately 28 million people by the end of the 21st century. In 2018, fertility in South Korea became a topic of international debate after only 26,500 babies were born in October and an estimated 325,000 babies for the year, causing the country to achieve the lowest birth rate in the world. In a further indication of South Korea's dramatic decline in fertility, in 2020 the country recorded more deaths than births, resulting in a population decline for the first time since modern records began. Analysts have attributed South Korea's population decline resulting from low birth rates to the country's high economic inequality; including the high cost of living, low wages for an OECD member country, lack of job opportunities, as well as rising housing in-affordability. Background In South Korea, a variety of different Asian people had migrated to the Korean Peninsula in past centuries, however few have remained permanently. South Korea despite formerly being a highly homogenous nation, has in recent decades become home to a number of foreign ethnicities, whereas North Korea has not experienced this trend. Both North Korea and South Korea equate nationality or citizenship with membership in a single, homogenous ethnic group and politicized notion of "race." The total population of Korea to be 80 million, which includes the population of North Korea. The common language and especially race are viewed as important elements by South Koreans in terms of identity, more than citizenship. Population trends Population of South Korea by age and sex (demographic pyramid) According to Worldometers' South Korea Population Forecast statistics, South Korea is supposed to have a 0.36% yearly change increase by 2020, a 0.28% yearly change increase by 2025, a 0.18% yearly change increase by 52,701,817, and a 0.04% yearly change increase by 2035. According to those same statistics, the years from 2040 to 2050 are supposed to have a steady decline of yearly change percentages. The