South Korea’s Birth Rate Bounces Back For The First Time In Almost A Decade
South Korea’s birth rate has risen in 2024, breaking a nine-year streak of uninterrupted downtrend.
According to a report by Statistic Korea on February 26, KST, the country’s fertility rate rose by 0.03 percent in 2024. This news has sparked significant public discourse as South Korea has been grappling with a demographic crisis due to the falling birth rate and the increase in the elderly population.
The South Korean government’s preliminary assessment showed that, on average, a South Korean woman gave birth to 0.75 babies in her lifetime in 2024. The number was 0.73 in 2023. In 2015, this figure was 1.24 and has seen a steady decline ever since.
Statistics Korea attributed this rise in fertility rate to an increased number of women in the child-rearing age bracket, pending weddings taking place after a pause due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and an overall positive outlook toward marriage and childbirth.
The number of newborns in South Korea reached 238,343 in 2024, 3.6 percent higher than the previous year. This is also the first time in nine years that the number has seen a rise. In 2015, it rose by 0.7 percent to 438,420 and has since gradually declined until 2023.
You Hye Mi, the senior presidential secretary for population planning, held a press conference on Wednesday and credited this increased birth rate to the Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s speedy implementation of administrative policies to battle demographic challenges. She specifically referred to measures such as loans and housing support provided by the government to newlywed couples, in addition to benefits for companies to adopt family-friendly policies by encouraging employees to use parental leave.
Despite the rise in number, South Korea’s birth rate will likely remain the lowest among the 38 OECD countries. As per 2022 estimates, South Korea was the only member country with a fertility rate lower than 1.
While demographic challenges have long been said to threaten the existence of Korean society altogether, a recent study revealed that the much-feared extinction wouldn’t happen anytime soon. Read more about it here:
