Population of South and North Korea Topped 70 Million

The combined population of South and North Korea topped 70 million this year and is expected to be around 80 million by 2050.

And the maternal mortality rate in underdeveloped countries, which represents deaths of women during pregnancy and delivery, was 600 times higher than the average rate recorded by advanced countries, according to the `State of World Population 2002` report jointly released by the Planned Parenthood Federation of Korea (PPFK) and the United National Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA).

▽ Population in Korean Peninsula

The South has a population of about 47.4 million and the North has about 22.6 million people, and the numbers are expected to increase to 51.6 million and 28 million respectively by 2050.

The average South Korean life expectancy stood at 71.8 years for men and 79.1 for women, while the North recorded 62.5 for men and 68 for women. The world`s average life expectancy was 63.9 years for men and 68.1 for women.

The infant mortality rate, representing infant deaths under one year age per 1,000 live births, was seven in South Korea and 39 in the North. The world`s infant mortality rate of stood at 55.

The total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman may be expected to have during her lifetime, was 1.51 in the South, matching the advanced countries’ average of 1.5. The North Korean fertility rate was 2.07.

The world’s population was estimated to be 6.211 billion this year and expected to reach 9.32 billion by 2050.

▽ Growing Gap between Rich and Poor Countries

The difference in per capita income between the top 20% and the bottom 20% in the world was widened to 74 to 1 in 1999 from 30 to 1 in 1960.

The average life expectancy in underdeveloped countries was 49, and one out of ten children there died before they turned one year old.

The maternal mortality rate, which represents deaths of women related to complications during pregnancy and delivery, was 2976 to 1 in the U.S. and Europe, 19 to 1 in Africa 132 to 1 in Asia and 188 to 1 in Latin America.

58% of adults infected with AIDS virus were women in Southern Saharan Africa. 14,000 people get infected with AIDS everyday throughout the world, and the number of AIDS orphans is expected to reach 40 million by 2010. More than half of AIDS patients were aged between 15 and 24.

Sang-Keun Song songmoon@donga.com