Why Did Gwacheon City's Birth Rate Soar from Last to 2nd Place in Gyeonggi Province?

[Asia Economy (Gwacheon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] The birth rate in Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, has recently increased sharply, drawing attention.

According to Gyeonggi-do and Gwacheon-si on the 22nd, although the total population in the province is increasing, the number of births has been declining every year. The number of births in the province decreased from 85,217 in 2019 to 76,139 in 2021.

The total fertility rate in 2021 (the expected number of children a woman of childbearing age will have in her lifetime) was 0.85, down 0.03 from the previous year. Since falling below 1.0 (0.98) in 2018, the downward trend has hardly stopped.

This decline in birth rates is similarly observed in 30 cities and counties in the province, excluding Gwacheon-si.

However, Gwacheon-si's total fertility rate rose from 0.78 in 2019, the lowest in the province, to 0.99 in the following year, ranking 6th, and recorded 1.06 in 2021. This is the second highest among the 31 cities and counties in the province, following Yeoncheon-gun's 1.19.

Gwacheon-si attributes the sharp rise in birth rates to the move-in of residents to 'Gwacheon Knowledge Information Town.'

This area, where full-scale move-in began in 2021, currently has about 1,900 households settled. In particular, many young couples have moved in, highly valuing accessibility to Seoul and the educational environment, which is analyzed to have raised Gwacheon-si's birth rate.

Since many households are still scheduled to move in, Gwacheon-si expects the birth rate to increase for the time being and is considering various support measures.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.