SEOUL — South Korea has become a "super-aged society," with 20 percent of its population aged 65 or older, official data showed on Tuesday, a gloomy trend driven by an alarmingly low birth rate.

Asia's fourth-largest economy recorded just 0.7 births per woman late last year — one of the lowest birth rates in the world and far below the replacement rate of 2.1 needed to sustain the current population.

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