South Korea sees births rise for 14th straight month

SEOUL, October 29 (AJP) - South Korea recorded an increase in births for the 14th consecutive month in August, according to new government data released Wednesday.

The National Data Office said 20,867 babies were born in August, a 3.8 percent increase from a year earlier. Births rose in 12 of the country’s 17 major regions, including Seoul and Busan, though declines continued in Daejeon, Sejong and several smaller provinces.

The birth rate climbed to 4.8 per 1,000 people, up 0.1 percentage point from last year. The total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — rose slightly to 0.77 from 0.75 a year earlier, remaining far below the population replacement level of 2.1.

Firstborn children accounted for most of the increase, up 2 percent from the previous year, while births of second and third or later children fell by 0.9 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively.

Marriage rates also improved, a trend demographers say could signal modest stabilization in family formation. There were 19,449 marriages in August, up 11 percent year over year, while divorces fell by 5.5 percent to 7,196.

Despite the recent uptick, South Korea continues to grapple with one of the lowest fertility rates in the world — a demographic challenge that threatens long-term economic growth and labor supply.

Government efforts to reverse the decline, including childcare subsidies and housing incentives for young families, have so far yielded limited results.

* This article, published by Aju Business Daily, was translated by AI and edited by AJP.

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