bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

South Korea registered a record birth rate growth during the first five months of the year, a statistics agency official said on Wednesday.
The country has one of the world’s longest life expectancies and lowest birth rates – a combination that presents a looming demographic challenge.
Seoul has poured billions of dollars into efforts to encourage women to have more children and maintain population stability.
“The number of newborns for the January-May period stood at 106,048, a 6.9 per cent increase, the highest growth rate since such data collection began in 1981,” said Kang hyun-young from Statistics Korea.
The surge follows South Korea’s first annual increase in the number of births in more than a decade, driven by a rise in marriages. In 2024, the number of newborns rose by 8,300, or 3.6 per cent, to 238,300 from the previous year.
April in particular saw a spike, with year-on-year growth reaching 8.7 percent and the number of births totalling 20,717 that month.
The latest figure marks a sharp turnaround from early 2024, when the number of births for the January-May period dropped by 2.7 percent from the previous year.
In 2024, South Korea ranked among the lowest five nations in birth rates, according to the World Population Review.
The fertility rate, or the average number of babies a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, for May stood at 0.75.
A country needs a fertility rate of 2.1 children to maintain its population.
At current rates, the population of 51 million people will be cut nearly in half to 26.8 million by 2100, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington in Seattle.
The increase was attributable “to a rise in the number of women in their early 30s, leading to an overall increase in marriages”, Kang said.


“In South Korea, there is a strong correlation between marriage and childbirth, which has driven the increase in births during the first five months,” she added.
In 2024, the country saw a 14.8 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of marriages, with more than 220,000 couples tying the knot.
Many government benefits designed to support child-rearing do not cover parents who are not legally married.
Analysts say there are multiple reasons for the low birth rate, from high child-rearing costs and property prices to a notoriously competitive society that makes well-paid jobs difficult to secure.
The double burden for working mothers of managing the brunt of household chores and childcare while also maintaining their careers is another key factor, they say.
In a bid to reverse the trend, the South Korean government offers cash subsidies, babysitting services, and support for infertility treatment.
Neighbouring Japan is grappling with the same issue – it has the world’s second-oldest population after Monaco, and the country’s relatively strict immigration rules mean it faces growing labour shortages.


Thais attacked in South Korea as conflict with Cambodia spills over

BTS’ Jungkook faces fan fury over dating rumours with Aespa’s Winter

Why South Korea is powerless to revive Trump-Kim nuclear talks

Shaman rumours resurface as South Korea returns to Blue House

South Korea

South Korea reverses birth rate decline with its fastest growth in 40 years

South Korea’s birth rate surged 6.9 per cent in early 2024, driven by increased marriages, reversing a decade-long decline. Photo: Shutterstock

More Japanese women say ‘I do’ to South Korean men, swept along by ‘hallyu’ wave

A couple in Namhansanseong Provincial Park in summer. Photo: Shutterstock

A scene from ‘Premarital Love’, a reality show pairing Japanese women with South Korean men. Photo: MBC

Hanny Marriage arranges dates between Japanese women and South Korean men. Photo: Instagram/Hanny Marriage

South Korean, Filipino officials rebuked for poor flood response and misjudgment

A flooded road caused by torrential rain in Yesan, South Korea. Photo: Yonhap via Reuters 

A flooded Barasoain church in Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines where a wedding took place on Tuesday. Photo: AP

South Korea abandons ‘friend-or-foe’ mentality, pivots to pragmatic diplomacy

South Korean President Lee Jae-myung delivers a speech during a news conference at the Blue House in Seoul earlier this month. Photo: AP

South Korea’s new Foreign Minister Cho Hyun burns incense to pay tribute to war dead at the National Cemetery in Seoul on Monday. Cho has said securing peace on the peninsula is a “top priority”. Photo: Yonhap/EPA

South Korean soldiers take part in an anti-terrorism drill last year as part of the 10-day Ulchi Freedom Shield joint annual exercise with the US. Analysts say Seoul could scale back this year’s drills. Photo: EPA-EFE

In South Korea, mother’s murder of daughter lays bare deepening debt crisis

South Korea’s household debt-to-GDP ratio was the second highest among 38 major nations in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to the Institute of International Finance. Photo: Reuters

The Myeong-dong shopping street in Seoul. More South Korean teenagers have treated for gambling addiction in recent years, according to local statistics. Photo: Shutterstock

Squid Game soldiers march through central Seoul in June. The Netflix hit is seen as mirroring the debt problems faced by many South Koreans. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

East Asia

In 2024, South Korea ranked among the lowest five nations in birth rates, according to the World Population Review


In 2024, South Korea ranked among the lowest five nations in birth rates, according to the World Population Review.


South Korea reverses birth rate decline with its fastest growth in 40 years

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}In 2024, South Korea ranked among the lowest five nations in birth rates, according to the World Population Review

In 2024, South Korea ranked among the lowest five nations in birth rates, according to the World Population Review