Number of new child adoptees in Korea falls to record low in 2016

Number of new child adoptees in Korea falls to record low in 2016

Published: 2017-05-13 11:04

Updated: 2017-05-14 09:41

The number of new child adoptees in South Korea reached a record low last year, data showed Saturday.

According to the data compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of new child adoptees stood at 880 in 2016, falling 17 percent on-year.

(Yonhap)

Among the new adoptees, 334 were adopted by overseas families.

Of those, 67 percent were sent to the United States. Other destinations included Sweden, Canada and Norway. A whopping 98 percent of the children adopted by overseas households came from single mothers.

The ministry attributed the decrease in adoption to complicated legal procedures. The number of South Korean children being sent to orphanages also decreased, it added.

In 2015, the number of children sent to welfare facilities stood at 4,503, dropping 55 percent from 2010. (Yonhap)

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