S-Korea witnesses increase in births for tenth month in row
(MENAFN) Births in South Korea continued to rise for the tenth month in a row this April, a trend driven partly by an increase in marriages, according to reports based on official data released Wednesday.
In April, the number of babies born reached 20,717, marking an 8.7 percent increase compared to the same period last year. This steady growth has been observed since July of the previous year, as stated by statistical sources.
Despite the increase in births, the total fertility rate—which represents the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime—stood at 0.79 in April, reflecting a slight rise of 0.06 points. Nonetheless, this figure remains significantly below the replacement level of 2.1 children per woman required to sustain a stable population.
Marriage figures also saw improvement, climbing 4.9 percent year-on-year to 18,921 in April. Meanwhile, divorce numbers fell by 5.2 percent, totaling 7,299 cases for the month.
Despite these positive shifts, there is continued concern about the reluctance of younger generations to start families, often attributed to persistent economic pressures such as high housing costs and ongoing employment challenges.
The country’s persistently low fertility rate has sparked growing alarm over a potential demographic cliff—a sudden drop in the number of household heads that could eventually lead to a steep decline in overall consumption.
In the same month, deaths slightly increased by 0.8 percent, totaling 28,785. The combination of rising deaths and still-low birth figures resulted in a natural population decrease of 8,068 for April.
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