South Korea has recorded its first increase in births in over a decade, fueled by a surge in marriages, government officials announced Wednesday.
The rise comes as the country grapples with a demographic crisis marked by one of the world’s lowest birth rates and an aging population, Agence France-Presse reported.
Despite extensive government efforts to encourage childbirth, South Korea has struggled to reverse its declining fertility rate.
According to preliminary data from Statistics Korea, the crude birth rate—the number of babies born per 1,000 people—stood at 4.7 in 2024, marking a break in the continuous decline since 2014.
Meanwhile, the fertility rate, which measures the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, increased to 0.75.
“The number of births in 2024 was 238,300, an increase of 8,300 (3.6 percent) from the previous year,” Statistics Korea reported.
Park Hyun-jeong, an official from Statistics Korea, pointed to shifting demographics and a rise in marriages as key factors behind the birth rate increase.
“The population has seen a significant increase in the number of people in their early 30s,” Park said at a press conference. “This has had a major impact.”
She also noted the delayed impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on marriage trends. “Additionally, many marriages that were delayed due to Covid-19 have now taken place, and this upward trend continues.”
According to Park, the number of marriages last year was the highest since 1996—“the highest on record.”
Despite the increase, South Korea’s fertility rate remains far below the replacement level of 2.1 children needed to sustain the country’s population of 51 million. The average maternal age at childbirth in 2024 was 33.7 years, one of the highest in the world.
At the current rate, South Korea’s population is projected to shrink to 26.8 million by 2100, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.
Experts highlight several factors behind the low birth rate, including high child-rearing costs, soaring property prices, and an intensely competitive job market that makes securing stable employment challenging.
In addition, working mothers continue to bear the double burden of managing their careers while shouldering the majority of household and childcare responsibilities.
The South Korean government has rolled out various incentives, including cash subsidies, babysitting services, and support for infertility treatments. However, these measures have yet to reverse the long-term downward trend in births.
Neighboring Japan faces a similar challenge, with its aging population and restrictive immigration policies contributing to labor shortages. Japan currently has the world’s second-oldest population after Monaco.
While South Korea’s recent uptick in births provides a brief reprieve, experts caution that deeper structural reforms are needed to address the broader economic and societal challenges fueling the country’s demographic decline.
