Number of Births Grows for 1st Time in 6 Years
By Lee Hyo-sik
Staff Reporter
For the first time in six years, in 2006 South Korea saw an increase in births over the previous year, an indication that a range of government incentives aimed at boosting birthrates are beginning to take effect.
The National Statistical Office (NSO) reported on Monday that 452,000 babies were born in 2006, up 14,000 from a year earlier.
It was the first annual increase since 2000 when the number of births rose to 637,000, up 21,000 from the previous year.
The average number of babies born per women aged 15-49 also rose for the first time in three years to 1.13 last year, up from an all-time low of 1.08 in 2005.
But Korea still has a lower birth rate than the majority of member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the statistical office.
American women had an average of 2.05 infants last year, followed by 1.98 in France, 1.8 in Britain and 1.26 in Japan.
The crude birthrate (CBR), which indicates the number of children born per 1,000 people, stood at 9.3 infants, up from 9 in 2005.
``More Koreans got married last year on the belief that the year 2006 in the lunar calendar will bring luck to those who tie the knot. Also, more married women gave birth as the government began providing an array of financial and other incentives to birth-giving parents, pushing up the number of newborns'' an NSO official said.
In 2006, the number of marriages totaled 332,800 _ an average of 912 every day and up 5.2 percent from a year earlier, marking the biggest growth since 1996.
The official also expects the number of childbirths to increase this year as many couples who got married last year will likely have babies the following year.
The statistical office said women in their early 30s contributed most to expanding the number of childbirths, outpacing those in their late 20s for the second year in a row.
The number of births by women aged 30-34 totaled 190,000 last year, up 11,000 from a year earlier, but that of women aged 25-29 fell by 1,000 to 174,000.
Also, women aged 20-24 gave birth to 31,000 babies, down 2,000 over the one-year period.
The average age of a pregnant women was 30.4 years old, up from 30.2 in 2005; 30.1 in 2004; and 29.8 in 2003. Korean women had their first child at the average age of 29.2 in 2006, with the second and third children born at 31.3 and 33.5, respectively.
The office said more women are giving birth in their early 30s, while the number of pregnant women in their 20s fell as they are postponing marriage to pursue their careers.