[News in Numbers] Number of Births Drops from 436,000 to 230,000 in 10 Years... Will It Rebound This Year?

As the low birthrate trend expands, the number of births in the past decade has nearly halved. The number of births, which remained in the 430,000 range, fell below 400,000 in 2017, and just three years later in 2020, it also dropped below 300,000. Since then, it has decreased by more than 10,000 each year. However, in the second half of this year, the monthly number of births increased for two consecutive months, raising expectations for a rebound this year. If the number of births increases compared to last year, it will be the first rebound in nine years.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to Statistics Korea, the number of births in August was 20,098, an increase of 1,124 (5.9%) compared to one year earlier. Following an increase of 1,516 in July, this marks two consecutive months with an increase of over 1,000 births.

The cumulative number of births from January to August this year was 158,011, which is 589 fewer than the 158,609 births during the same period last year. However, if the increasing trend in births seen in July and August continues, it is analyzed that the annual number of births could rebound this year.

The annual number of births maintained the 430,000 range from 2013 with 436,000, 435,000 in 2014, and 438,000 in 2015, but sharply declined to the 357,000 range in 2017, breaking the 400,000 mark. In 2019, it barely stayed in the 300,000 range with 302,000 births, but dropped to 272,000 in 2020, then decreased by about 10,000 each year to 260,000 in 2021, 249,000 in 2022, and 230,000 in 2023. If the number of births rebounds this year, it will be the first rebound in nine years since 2015.

The recent increase in births is largely attributed to the rise in marriages that had been delayed due to COVID-19.

The cumulative number of marriages from January to August was 146,403, a 12.2% increase compared to the same period last year. In August alone, the number of marriages was 17,527, an increase of 2,917 (20.0%) compared to one year earlier. This marks the fifth consecutive month of increase since April this year.

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