SEOUL, South Korea — Feb. 25, 2026 (ANI): South Korea’s childbirth rate has risen to 0.8, marking an increase after four years of decline, according to a report by Yonhap. The pace of growth is the highest since 2010 and represents the second consecutive year of increase.
A total of 254,500 babies were born last year, up 6.8 percent, or 16,100, from 2024, according to provisional data from the Ministry of Statistics. Final figures are expected to be released in August.
The total fertility rate, defined as the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, rose to 0.8, an increase of 0.05 from the previous year. This marks the first time in four years that the rate has recovered to this level.
Officials attributed the rebound to an increase in marriages and continued growth in the number of women in their early 30s, considered the prime childbearing age group, since 2021.
“The number of marriages gained ground for 21 straight months from April 2024 to December last year, as couples who had delayed their marriages due to the COVID-19 pandemic tied the knot,” said Park Hyun-jeong, a ministry official.
Park also noted a shift in social attitudes toward childbirth, with the ministry’s latest biennial survey in 2024 showing an increase in the number of people intending to have children after marriage compared with two years earlier. The proportion of individuals willing to have children outside of marriage also increased.
Park projected the fertility rate would remain above 0.8 this year and could rise further to 1.0 by 2031.
Data also showed that the number of deaths increased 1.3 percent year over year to 363,400 in 2025, resulting in a natural population decline of 110,000.
Earlier data released Jan. 28 showed that 233,708 babies were born between January and November 2025, up 6.2 percent from the same period a year earlier. This represents the steepest year-over-year increase since 2007. (ANI)
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