Korea's natural population decline slows as rebound in births continues
Despite the increase in births and decrease in deaths, Korea's population growth eased to 13.6 percent in May after hitting 19.4 percent in March and 18 percent in April.
Nurses care for newborns in the neonatal ward at Cha Ilsan Medical Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on June 24.NEWS1
Births in Korea increased for the 23rd consecutive month in May while deaths declined, bringing the country’s natural population decline to nearly half the level recorded a year earlier.
A total of 23,160 babies were born in May, up 2,781, or 13.6 percent, from the same month last year, according to a population report released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday.
The number of births has experienced an on-year increase every month since July 2024, or for 23 consecutive months.
A total of 122,694 babies were born from January through May, up 15.2 percent from the same period last year. Korea’s population growth, however, eased to 13.6 percent in May after hitting 19.4 percent in March and 18 percent in April.
The combination of a rise in births and a decline in deaths significantly narrowed the country’s population decline.
During the first five months of this year, the difference between births and deaths was negative 28,334, meaning the population naturally declined by 28,334 people.
Although deaths still outnumbered births, that figure is 44.9 percent smaller than the 51,404 recorded during the same period last year.
The improvement reflected a 15.2 percent increase in births and a 4.4 percent decrease in deaths during the period. In May alone, the natural population decline stood at 6,413, down 20.9 percent from the 8,103 a year earlier.
Children play at a swimming pool in Ttukseom Hangang Park in Gwangjin District, eastern Seoul, on July 29.NEWS
The country’s fertility rate also continued to rise. The figure reached 0.85 in May, up 0.1 from the same month last year.
Women in their 30s drove the growth. The age-specific fertility rate — measured as the number of births per 1,000 women in each age group — was highest among those aged 30 to 34 at 78, up 8.3 from a year earlier. Specifically, the rate for women aged 35 to 39 rose by 9.9 to 58.
But marriage registrations, a key indicator of future births, declined. A total of 20,368 marriages were registered in May, down 6.4 percent from a year earlier. The cumulative number of marriages from January through May reached 103,299, up 3.9 percent from the same period last year. This suggests that the broader upward trend has not yet reversed.
Among babies born in May, firstborn children accounted for 63 percent of all births, up 1.3 percentage points from a year earlier. The share of second-born children fell 0.2 percentage points to 31.7 percent, and the proportion of third-born or later children declined 1.1 percentage points to 5.3 percent.
These figures suggest that while more couples are having their first child, that trend has yet to clearly translate into an increase in those having second and third children.
BY NAM SOO-HYOUN [kim.jiye@joongang.co.kr]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
