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Gov't earmarks 88.5 trillion won for response to low birth rate, aging population in 2025

Published: 04 Jul. 2025, 13:38 Updated: 04 Jul. 2025, 14:14

A nurse looks after newborns at a hospital in Seoul on Feb. 28, 2024. [YONHAP]

The government will spend 88.5 trillion won ($64.8 billion) this year alone to help boost the country's low fertility rate and address problems associated with its rapidly aging population, the Health Ministry said Friday.

The budget, approved at a population crisis response meeting, marks a 6.4 percent increase from that of last year, according to the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Under the budget plan, the government will invest 28.6 trillion won in projects designed to increase the country's fertility rate, such as cash handouts for babies and parents.

Korea's fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, stood at 0.79 in April, up 0.06 from a year earlier, but still one of the lowest in the world.

Another 12.2 trillion won will be allocated to supporting local governments' projects aimed at tackling demographic challenges, the ministry said.

Yonhap