A classroom in Joongni Elementary School in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, is seen with no students in this file photo from March 4, 2024. The school had no new students that year and is scheduled to close down on March 1 this year. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

More elementary, middle and high schools in Korea are set to close this year due to the declining school-age population amid the country's low birthrate. Among them, 43 schools, or 88 percent of the total 49, were located in provinces away from the capital, according to education ministry data submitted to Rep. Jin Sun-mee of the Democratic Party of Korea, Sunday.

The figure is overwhelmingly higher than the number of schools closing annually in each city and province over the past five years. The number of schools closed in 2020 reached 33, then went down to 24 in 2021, 25 in 2022 and 22 in 2023, before bouncing back to 33 last year.

By region, none of the closing schools were in Seoul, while six were in Gyeonggi Province. South Jeolla Province topped the regions with 10 schools planned to shut down, followed by South Chungcheong Province with nine, North Jeolla Province with eight and Gangwon Province with seven schools. Busan had two and Daegu had one school to close.

By school level, 38 out of the 49 schools scheduled to close were elementary schools, accounting for the overwhelming majority, while eight were middle schools and three were high schools.

Meanwhile, 112 elementary schools nationwide did not have any new students last year.

According to the ministry data, as of last April, North Jeolla Province topped among the regions with 34 elementary schools admitting zero new students, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 17, South Gyeongsang Province with 16, South Jeolla Province and South Chungcheong Province with 12 each and Gangwon Province with 11 schools with no new students.

The number is expected to increase further this year.

According to the metropolitan and provincial offices of education, some 42 elementary schools in North Gyeongsang Province failed to accept new students this year, similarly to 32 schools in South Jeolla Province, 25 in North Jeolla Province, 26 in South Gyeongsang and 21 in Gangwon Province.