Births in Gangwon-do Increased for Two Consecutive Months in October and November Last Year

The Total Number of Marriages Last Year Increased Significantly
Birth Rate Expected to Continue Rising

Gangwon Special Self-Governing Province (Governor Kim Jin-tae) announced on the 23rd, citing the population trends of November last year from Statistics Korea, that the number of births in November last year was 526, an increase of 45 compared to the same month of the previous year.

View of Gangwon Provincial Government Building. Photo by Gangwon Provincial Government Provided

Analyzing the number of births, the growth rate turned positive from October last year, rising from 6.2% to 9.4% in November.

The cumulative number of marriages from January to November last year was 5,517, already surpassing the total number of marriages in 2023, which was 5,494.

In South Korea, where non-marital births are extremely rare, the increase in births and marriages is expected to have a positive effect on mitigating the population decline in Gangwon Province in the future.

In Gangwon Province, it is analyzed that childcare policies such as the basic childcare allowance, which was the first in the country to double the beneficiary child age from under 4 years to under 8 years, and housing policy projects such as interest support for newlywed couples' housing loans have contributed to the increase in births and marriages.

The basic childcare allowance is a program that has supported up to 500,000 KRW per month regardless of income criteria for children born since 2019, and as of the end of last year, 35,874 children were supported.

The newlywed couples' housing loan interest support program provides interest support up to 3% on rental loans up to 100 million KRW for newlywed couples within 7 years who meet certain income criteria, and so far, a total of 1,670 households have been supported.

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