Number of births climbs 2.7% in May for second straight month of growth

Economy

Published: 24 Jul. 2024, 18:02 Updated: 24 Jul. 2024, 18:06

Number of births climbs 2.7% in May for second straight month of growth

Nurses tend to newborn babies at a hospital in Incheon on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

The number of births in Korea inched up on year in May, marking the second consecutive month of yearly increases.

A post-pandemic rebound in marriages, as well as a base effect from the record-low birthrate last year, drove the uptick, according to the statistics agency.

Data from Statistics Korea showed Wednesday that the number of newborns in May rose 2.7 percent on year to 19,547. The on-year rise followed a 2.8 percent increase in April, which broke a 19-month downward streak.

By administrative region, 11 including Seoul and Busan saw an on-year increase in births, while the figure declined in Gwangju, Daejeon and four others.

May marked the first time since November 2015 that the number of births increased on year for two consecutive months.

The latest rebound is attributed to a rise in marriages starting in August 2022 that ran for eight consecutive months. The post-pandemic increase has begun to be reflected in the birth statistics as of late as it typically takes about two years for a first child to be born after getting married, according to Statistics Korea.

"Whether [the number of births] has bottomed out remains to be seen, but we expect the rise in marriages will continue to have an effect through the latter half of the year,” said Lim Young-il, head of population trends at the state agency.

Like births, the number of marriages also saw a steep increase for the second consecutive month in May, rising by 21.6 percent to 20,923. The latest jump followed a 24.6 percent surge a month prior.

Despite the on-year rebound in newborns, however, the raw number of births remained low. This year's figure was the second-lowest ever for the month of May, following an all-time low of 19,033 last year.

The cumulative figure this year is the lowest ever for the January-May period as well. The number of births totaled 99,070, down 2.9 percent from the same period last year, due mainly to the steep fall in the first three months.

In the first quarter this year, the total fertility rate — the average number of children expected to be born per woman over her lifetime — fell below the 0.8 mark for the first time to 0.76, down by 0.06 from last year. The statistics agency expects this year's fertility rate to come in at 0.68.

Meanwhile, the number of deaths declined 1.2 percent on year to 28,546, resulting in a net population decline of 8,999 people in May. Korea's population has been shrinking for 55 consecutive months.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]