South Korea's births surge to record growth rate

The number of babies born in South Korea rose at a record pace in February this year, driven mainly by an increase in childbirths among women in their 30s, according to government data released Wednesday.

A total of 22,898 babies were born during the month, marking a 13.6 percent increase compared with the same period a year earlier, according to findings from the Ministry of Data and Statistics, News.Az reports, citing Yonhap.

The ministry said this was the highest number of births recorded for the month of February since 2019, when 25,710 babies were born.

It also noted that the growth rate represented the fastest increase for any February since record-keeping began in 1981.

The number of newborns in the country has been on an upward trend since July 2024.

South Korea’s total fertility rate, which measures the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, rose by 0.1 compared with a year earlier to 0.93 in February.

According to the ministry, the recent rise in births was largely driven by women in their 30s. Births per 1,000 women in their early 30s increased by 9.1 to 86.1, while the corresponding figure for women in their late 30s rose by 9.2 to 61.5.

In contrast, births per 1,000 women in their late 20s rose only slightly, by 1.6 to 23.9.

Meanwhile, the number of marriages in February fell 4.2 percent year-on-year to 18,557, reversing after 22 consecutive months of growth. The decline was attributed to fewer working days due to the extended Lunar New Year holiday.

The number of divorces also dropped by 15.6 percent year-on-year to 6,197 during the same period, according to the data.

At the same time, deaths decreased by 3.5 percent compared with a year earlier to 29,172, resulting in a natural population decline of 6,275.

News.Az 

By Nijat Babayev