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Women in their early 30s drive Korea's birthrate rebound

Published: 04 Mar. 2026, 19:36 Updated: 04 Mar. 2026, 19:47

A nurse cares for babies at CHA Ilsan Medical Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Dec. 26, 2025. [YONHAP]

Women in their early 30s are driving Korea's recent rebound in birthrates, as the country's fertility rate slowly returned to the 0.8 range last year for the first time in four years.

“I always wanted kids after getting married, but right after my first child was born, there were almost no parents in their late 20s around me,” said Lee, a 33-year-old office worker with a 4-year-old son.

“That made me feel more frightened than I already was [about parenthood],” Lee continued. “But raising my child brought me so much happiness. As I became more confident as a parent, I started thinking about having a second child.”

Government data shows women aged 30 to 34 recorded the highest birthrate among all age groups last year.

Among every 1,000 women in their early 30s, 73.2 women gave birth in 2025, an increase of 2.9 from the previous year. Fifty-two of them were aged 35 to 39, 21.3 of them were aged 25 to 29 and 8.5 were aged 40 to 44, according to data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday.

Experts attribute changes in demographics as one reason for the higher birthrate among women in their early 30s.

The number of women aged 30 to 34 began increasing in 2021 and has grown by roughly 30,000 each year from 2022 through 2025, according to data from the Korean Statistical Information Service.

Babies are seen at at CHA Ilsan Medical Center in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Nov. 26, 2025. [YONHAP]

People born in the early 1990s — the so-called echo boom generation — have now entered their 30s, thereby increasing the population size of what is considered the peak childbearing age group.

The number of marriages, a leading indicator for future births, has also increased. Korea recorded about 240,000 marriages in 2025, up 8.1 percent from the previous year, marking the third consecutive annual increase following a 1 percent rise in 2023 and a 14.8 percent increase in 2024.

Many couples postponed weddings during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, and those delayed marriages have also recently taken place in larger numbers.

Still, analysts say the rebound may not last long.

The number of people in their late 20s fell by 33,000 in 2025 from the previous year and has declined for four consecutive years since 2022.

A pregnant woman touches her belly during an event marking Pregnant Women’s Day at the Fairmont Ambassador Seoul hotel in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Oct. 10, 2025. [NEWS1]

“Birthrates will likely rebound strongly this year as recent increases in marriages take effect, and this trend could continue until 2030,” the National Assembly Budget Office said in a report. “The total fertility rate will eventually stabilize at around 0.92 births per woman in the long term.”

Korea recorded 254,500 births in 2025, an increase of 6.8 percent from the previous year. The number is expected to peak at 287,000 in 2028 before declining to 206,000 by 2045.

Some experts see rising birthrates among women in their late 30s as a small sign of hope. People now marry later, but many have children sooner after marriage, a trend researchers call “compressed childbirth.”

“In the late 30s age group, the population declined from the previous year but the birthrate increased,” Park Hyun-jung, an official from the Korean Statistical Information Service, said. “Changes in attitudes toward marriage and childbirth, as well as related government support, appear to influence this trend. Policy efforts should continue.”

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 KIM KYUNG-HEE [[email protected]]