South Koreans are on course to become extinct by the year 2750, making them potentially the first national population to disappear from the planet due to a critically low birth rate. According to a projection carried out as part of a parliamentary study, the last survivor in the capital Seoul will be born in 2505, while the last South Korean anywhere will enter the world in 2621, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper reported. In the shorter term, South Korea's current population of 50 million was forecast to drop to 40 million by 2056 and to 20 million by 2100. It draws attention to the country's fertility rate of 1.19 children born per woman recorded in 2013, far below that which would be required to sustain the population. The rate is below that of China – despite its one-child policy – and Japan.