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Biggest birthrate jump in 14 years fuels hope of fertility turnaround

Published: 26 Dec. 2024, 17:37

SHIN HA-NEE
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A nurse tends to newborn babies at a hospital in Incheon on Dec. 26. [NEWS1]

The number of births in Korea jumped by the largest margin in 14 years in October, data showed Thursday, further driving hopes for the first rebound in the annual fertility rate since 2015.

This marked the fourth consecutive month of an on-year increase in the number of babies born, as a post-pandemic surge of marriages and the base effect from the previous year’s ultra-low birthrate continues to drive the yearly growth.

A total of 21,398 babies were born in October, up 13.4 percent from the 18,878 newborns a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It marked the largest on-year increase since November 2010, when the number of childbirths grew by 17.5 percent.

"More couples held weddings from the second half of 2022 through the first half of 2023 after delaying their marriages during the earlier stages of the Covid-19 pandemic," said Im Young-il, an agency official. He also noted an increase in the number of second children.

“If the current trend continues, the total fertility rate may exceed last year’s figure,” which stood at 0.72 babies per woman, said Im.

Korea has been grappling with a persistent decline in its birthrate as an increasing number of young people are choosing to delay or avoid marriage and parenthood. To encourage marriage and improve the fertility rate, the government has rolled out various marriage benefits and support for child care.

The number of deaths, meanwhile, shed 3.2 percent on-year to 29,819 in October.

Accordingly, Korea reported a natural population decrease of 8,421 in the month.

The number of deaths has continued to exceed the number of newborns since the fourth quarter of 2019.

The report also showed that the number of couples getting married soared 22.3 percent on-year to 19,551 in October, marking the highest on-year increase in history.

The number of couples getting divorced decreased 7.8 percent on-year to 7,300, the data added.

BY SHIN HA-NEE, YONHAP [[email protected]]