The number of newborns in South Korea dropped for the third straight month in November despite the government's continuous efforts to tackle the country's declining birthrate, a report showed Thursday.

According to the report by Statistics Korea, the number of babies born in November stood at 37,500, down 3,800, or 9.2 percent, from the same period a year before.

It marked the third consecutive month of decline after the number of births fell 7.1 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively, in September and October. "It now is difficult to view the fall as a temporary trend because it has occurred for three straight months,"an agency official was quoted by Yonhap news agency as saying."It seems like the decline stemmed from tough economic conditions that discourage couples from having babies."

The government has been struggling to tackle the country's low birthrate coupled with a rapidly aging society, which could hamper South Korea's economic growth.

The country has one of the world's lowest fertility of 1.2 children per mother, according to a report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.