​​​​​​​ISTANBUL

The South Korean population is in danger of falling by 85% in the next 100 years, a report said Wednesday.

The Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future, a think tank in Seoul, said if the East Asian nation's population continues to decline, the census could drop to 15% of the current number by 2125, as its worst-case scenario, according to The Korea Herald.

The worst scenario foresees the population hitting 7.53 million by 2125, greatly reduced from the current figure of 51.68 million.

The think tank used birth rates, mortality rates and immigration patterns to predict the population decrease.

The best-case scenario, it said, still foresees a population decrease of more than 30% with the population dropping to 15.73 million, while the median projection estimates the 2125 population at 11.15 million.

Data from Statistics Korea, however, had shown earlier that South Korea’s birth rate surged 11.6% in January, with 23,947 newborns recorded -- the highest increase in January for the first time since records began in 1981, with the number increasing for seven straight months.