Births in South Korea extended the increase until the second month of August

Seoul, Oct 23 (SocialNews.XYZ) The number of babies born in South Korea rose year-on-year for the second straight month in August, data showed on Wednesday, amid ongoing demographic challenges caused by ultra-low birth rates and rapid aging.

A total of 20,098 babies were born in August, up 5.9 percent from a year earlier, according to Statistics Korea.

The increase follows 20,601 births recorded in July, up 7.9 percent on last year.

The increase apparently came after more couples held weddings from the second half of 2022 to the first half of 2023, postponing nuptials in the earlier stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the total fertility rate, which refers to the average number of births expected per woman over her lifetime, was at a record low of 0.71 in the second quarter of 2024.

The figure is far below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration, Yonhap news agency reported.

Between January and August, the number of births totaled 158,000, down 0.4 percent from a year earlier.

Meanwhile, deaths increased 5.6 percent from last year to 32,244 in August. The number of deaths has exceeded the number of newborns since the fourth quarter of 2019.

Accordingly, South Korea reported a natural population decline of 12,146 people.

The report also showed that the number of couples getting married rose 20 percent year on year to 17,527 in August.

The number of divorcing couples rose 5.5% year on year to 7,616, data added.

South Korea is experiencing grim demographic changes as many young people choose to delay or forego marriage and children in line with changing social norms and lifestyles.

Source: IANS