South Korea's birth rate increased dramatically in the first quarter

After years of record low birth rates, South Korea recorded a 7.3% increase in the first quarter of 2025 compared to the same period last year for the first time, and the highest increase in the first quarter in 44 years.

Nurses take care of newborns at Ain Hospital in Incheon, South Korea in February 2025 - Photo: NEWSIS

According to the Korea Herald , the number of children born in the country in the first quarter of this year increased by 7.3% compared to the same period in 2024.

This is the first quarter that saw the highest increase ever, since South Korea began recording this data in 1981. This recovery also marks the ninth consecutive month of increased births in South Korea, starting in July 2024.

Specifically, a total of 65,022 babies were born in the period from January to March this year, significantly higher than the figure of 60,571 in the same period last year.

In March alone, 21,041 births were recorded, up 6.8% compared to March last year. This is the first time in a decade that the number of births in March has increased sharply, reversing the previous downward trend.

The birth rate also increased to 0.82 children per mother, a positive sign compared to 0.77 in the same period last year. Although still much lower than the rate needed to maintain the population (2.1), this is the highest quarterly rate since the beginning of 2022.

Park Hyun Jung, director of the population trend division at Statistics Korea, said the upward trend is attributed to an increase in the marriage rate, the number of women of childbearing age and more positive views on marriage.

In the first quarter, there were 58,704 couples getting married, an increase of 8.4% over last year, with 19,181 marriages in March alone.

She explained that about 95% of births in Korea take place during marriage, so the increase in the number of couples registering for marriage also means more children are being born.

However, South Korea is still a country with an alarming birth rate, the lowest in the world . In 2023, the country recorded a birth rate that dropped to only 0.721 children per mother, attracting global attention.

In a 2024 documentary by EBS (Korea), American scholar Joan C. Williams at the University of California (USA) described this number as “unprecedented”, and warned that “Korea is in danger”.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ti-le-sinh-han-quoc-tang-ngoan-muc-trong-quy-i-20250529162637648.htm