With funding from the Academy of Korean Studies, the Asia Research Institute (ARI) organizes an annual Korean studies conferences.

(Re)Thinking Lowest-Low Fertility in Korea and Beyond

September 30-October 2, 2026, Asia Research Institute, University at Buffalo, State University of New York

South Korea currently has the lowest fertility rate in the world, with a Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 0.72 in 2023, and it has been the only OECD country with a TFR below 1.0 since 2018. The profound demographic and socioeconomic implications of this decline led the Korean government to declare a “National Population Crisis” on June 19, 2024. Yet Korea is not alone. Lowest-low fertility — conventionally defined as a TFR at or below 1.3 — is now a sustained feature of many societies across East Asia, Southern and Eastern Europe, and, increasingly, parts of Latin America. Whether Korea’s trajectory represents an extreme outlier rooted in distinctive socioeconomic and cultural conditions, or a leading edge of changes to come elsewhere, remains an open and pressing question.

This conference will bring together scholars from diverse fields and methodological traditions to provide a comprehensive understanding of lowest-low fertility observed in South Korea and other countries within the contemporary global context and to facilitate theoretical discussions grounded in rigorous empirical research.