Daejeon Seeks Solutions to Sustain Population Growth Trend

Promoting Comprehensive Care, Child-Rearing, Urban Appeal, and Solidarity

Photo provided by Daejeon City

As the population of Daejeon, which had previously been on a decline, has recently begun to increase, the city is striving to develop measures to maintain this positive trend.

Daejeon's population grew by 1,572 last year, marking the first increase in 12 years. As of the end of March this year, the population has already risen by 1,050, drawing attention to the need for bold policies to sustain this upward momentum.

On April 30, the city held the first Population Policy Committee meeting of 2026 in the main conference room at City Hall to discuss the implementation plan for its population policies.

The 25 experts from industry, academia, and research institutions appointed to the third Population Policy Committee represent various organizations and academic circles related to population policy. The committee will serve as an advisory body, discussing strategies to respond to future demographic changes in Daejeon and incorporating voices from the field into policy development.

The city has designated five main areas: comprehensive care and child-rearing, job creation and housing stability, increasing the resident population, enhancing urban appeal, and strengthening inclusiveness and solidarity. A total of 1.2509 trillion won will be invested in 151 initiatives across these areas.

By area, in the field of comprehensive care and child-rearing, new measures include introducing a fruit snack support program for children in their growth years and providing childbirth subsidies for families of male persons with disabilities, focusing on easing the financial burden on families with children.

In the area of job creation and housing stability, the city will offer support for young people taking certification and language examinations and provide safe contract consulting services to prevent damages from rental deposit fraud.

To increase the resident population, plans include expanding transportation infrastructure, such as operating the Yuseong Complex Terminal and introducing a new transit system with three-section articulated vehicles, to attract more people from outside the city.

For enhancing urban appeal, the city plans to carry out tourism development projects such as establishing the Bomunsan Observatory and nightscape attractions, while simultaneously creating parks and green spaces.

In the area of strengthening inclusiveness and solidarity, the city aims to build a social safety net that covers diverse groups through integrated medical and care services, as well as vocational training for marriage immigrants.

The city will incorporate feedback from this committee meeting to supplement and finalize the implementation plan for 2026 and will regularly review progress on these initiatives.

Meanwhile, Daejeon's crude marriage rate for 2025 is projected to be 6.1, ranking first nationwide. Since the number of marriages is a leading indicator of births, this raises expectations for future birth rates. The crude birth rate (5.4) and the total fertility rate (0.83) also remain among the top three levels among special and metropolitan cities.

Yoo Deukwon, Vice Mayor for Administrative Affairs, stated, "We are focusing all administrative resources to maintain this population growth trend, which has come for the first time in 12 years. By actively reflecting a wide range of opinions from all walks of life through the Population Policy Committee, we will build Daejeon into a world-class economic city where future generations can dream, settle, and thrive."

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