Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn said Monday the government must make a "determined" push to implement policies to tackle the falling number of newborns in South Korea, a trend that will weigh down the national economy.

"If the trend (of falling births) continues, the development of society and the happiness of the people will be severely hindered," Hwang said.

The prime minister's remark came as the number of newborns in the country came to 34,400 in May, down 5.8 percent from a year earlier. It marked the lowest level for the month since Statistics Korea compiled such data in 2000.

The number of marriages also came to 25,500, down 8.6 percent over the cited period and the lowest tallied for the month.