By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter

Korea's birthrate stands at the lowest level in the world, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The organization's annual health statistics for 2008 showed Wednesday that the birth rate, or the number of babies a woman gives birth to during her lifetime, was 1.2 for Korea as of 2006.

The figure is one of the lowest among 193 countries, along with Belarus, Bosnia Herzegovina, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine. It headed downward from 1.6 in 1990 and 1.4 in 2000.

North Korea's birthrate also fell to 1.9 in 2006 from 2.4 in 1990 and 2 in 2000.

The group of nations with the second lowest birthrate of 1.3 included Japan, Singapore, Andorra, Russia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia, and Romania. Women in the United States gave birth to 2.1 babies, those in France 1.9, and mothers in Britain, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark, 1.8, respectively.

Niger and Afghanistan had the highest fertility rate of 7.3 and 7.2, respectively, but the lowest life expectancy as well, 42.

Koreans' life expectancy was 78.5 years, 23rd among the 193 nations surveyed _ 75 for men and 82 for women. But their healthy life expectancy, the number of years that a newborn can expect to live in full health, was 68 _ 65 for men and 71 for women.

rahnita@koreatimes.co.kr