South Korea Issues Update on Birth Rate Crisis
Births in South Korea jumped 8.7 percent in April, the fastest monthly rise in 34 years, Seoul's statistics agency said Wednesday.
This was good news to officials, who cited an increase in marriages and shifting demographics.
South Korea holds the distinction of having the world's lowest birth rate, despite over $200 billion in pro-natal measures-from fertility treatment to subsidized housing. Policymakers worry this will further drag on Asia's fourth-largest economy, now struggling amid trade tensions and a technology sector slowdown.
While the fertility rate ticked upward last year to 0.75 births expected per woman's lifetime from 0.72 in 2023, this is still far below the rate of 2.1 necessary to replace a population.
Newsweek reached out to the South Korean embassy in the U.S. via emailed request for comment outside of working hours.
South Korea recorded 20,717 births in April, an 8.7 percent increase over the same month last year and the largest year-on-year jump in births since 1991.
Park Hyun-jung, director of population trends at Statistics Korea, credited the rebound to a sustained rise in the number of marriages, which climbed for the 13th consecutive month to reach 18,921.
An increase in marriages is a strong indicator of a forthcoming rise in births, as childbirth outside of wedlock is uncommon in South Korea.
Park also pointed to a growing proportion of women in their 30s as a key factor. The average age for a woman entering her first marriage is now 31.6.
"Increase in marriages, a larger population of women in their 30s, and a more positive perception of having children all appear to be contributing to the recent rebound," Park said.
Despite the surge in births, deaths in April totaled 28,785, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, resulting in a net population decline of 8,067.
South Korea has seen more deaths than births each quarter since late 2019, and last year joined Japan as a "super-aged" society, with more than 20 percent of the population now over 65.
Joo Hyung-hwan, vice chairman South Korea's Presidential Committee on Low Birthrate and Aging Society, said of last year's baby bump during a February press briefing: "Given that marriages are a leading indicator of future births, it is very encouraging."
"The increased births may have been affected by delayed marriages during the COVID-19 pandemic…But we believe substantive changes in people's perceptions on marriage and childbirth have been the main causes."
South Korean officials are cautiously optimistic and expect births to continue to trend upward as long as marriages also rise.
"As the number of births has been increasing significantly since July last year, it is not easy to predict whether the current increase or trend will continue in the second half of this year," one Statistics Korea official told Yonhap News Agency.
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