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Number of births rise for 13th consecutive month

Published: 24 Sep. 2025, 17:17

A nurse looks after a newborn baby at the CHA Ilsan Medical Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on July 24. [YONHAP]

The number of births in Korea rose for the 13th consecutive month in July, with both births and marriages reaching multiyear highs for the month, according to data released by Statistics Korea on Wednesday.

A total of 21,803 babies were born in July, up 1,223 or 5.9 percent from the same month in 2024. This marks the highest July figure since 2021, when 22,364 babies were born. The monthly birth count had remained in the 20,000 range throughout the year, dipped slightly in June, and then rebounded in July.

However, this was still the fourth-lowest July figure since the agency began compiling the data in 1981. The lowest July figure was recorded in 2023, at 19,085 births.

From January to July this year, the total number of births reached 147,804, a 7.2 percent increase from the same period last year. This is the first time in 10 years — since 2015 — that the cumulative number of births has risen, and the increase marks the largest on-year growth since records began.

Statistics Korea attributed the rise in births to an increase in marriages, government support policies for childbirth, and a rise in the number of women in their early 30s.

The total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime — was 0.80 in July, up 0.04 compared to the same month a year earlier. By region, the number of births rose in 13 out of 17 cities and provinces, including Seoul and Busan, but declined in four, including Gwangju and Sejong.

Firstborns accounted for 61.9 percent of total births, up 1.6 percentage points, while the shares of secondborns and thirdborns or later declined to 31.4 percent and 6.7 percent respectively.

The number of marriages rose to 20,394 in July, up 1,583 or 8.4 percent year-over-year, marking the highest July figure in nine years since 21,154 marriages were recorded in July 2016. Marriages have been increasing for 16 consecutive months since April 2024.

Deaths totaled 27,979, a decrease of 200 or 0.7 percent compared to the previous year. Divorces dropped to 7,826 cases, down 113 or 1.4 percent, continuing a seven-month streak of declines. The figure is the third lowest since the 1997-98 foreign exchange crisis.

Despite the rise in births, the number of deaths continued to outpace them, resulting in a natural population decline of 6,175 people in July.

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.
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]