Yi Whan-woo is a Korea Times journalist primarily covering finance. He writes in-depth articles on macroeconomy and financial markets and previously covered sports, politics, diplomacy and inter-Korean affairs, among others. Feel free to contact him at yistory@koreatimes.co.kr.
Newborn numbers rise in 2024 for 1st time in 9 years
gettyimagesbank
By Yi Whan-woo
5.8% of babies born out of wedlock
The number of babies born in Korea increased for the first time in nearly a decade in 2024, according to data released Wednesday, raising hopes for the country that has long struggled with accelerated population decline.
According to Statistics Korea, a total of 238,317 babies were born in 2024, up from 230,028 the previous year.
This marked the first year-on-year increase since 2015 when births rose by 0.69 percent to 438,420. The number of births has declined every year since.
Of the babies in 2024, 5.8 percent were born out of wedlock, a 1.1 percentage point increase from the previous year.
Last year’s rise in births also led to a rebound in the total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime. The rate was 1.24 in 2015 and declined steadily to reach 0.72 in 2023, but rose to 0.75 in 2024.
The total fertility rate varied significantly by region. South Jeolla Province and Sejong City had the highest rate at 1.03, while Seoul had the lowest at 0.58, followed by Busan at 0.68 and Gwangju at 0.7.
The stats agency projected that the total fertility rate for 2025 could reach 0.8.
This turnaround comes amid a worsening demographic crisis.
The 2023 rate was not only Korea’s lowest on record, but also the lowest among all OECD member nations. In addition, the country officially became a “super-aged” society in 2024, with more than 20 percent of its population aged 65 or older.
Statistics Korea attributed the rise in births to a combination of mixed factors including growing marriages since last year and increasingly positive perception about marrying and starting families.
In 2024, the average age of women giving birth rose slightly to 33.7 years from 33.6 the previous year, while the average age of fathers remained steady at 36.1 years.
The birthrate was highest among women in their early 30s, with 70.4 births per 1,000 women. Many of those driving the trend were born in the 1990s, when the country’s population was still growing.
The largest proportion of fathers were in their late 30s at 37.5 percent, followed by those in their early 30s at 35.9 percent and those in their early 40s at 14.7 percent.
The average duration of marriage before having a first child remained steady at 2.5 years, showing little change from the previous year.
The birth sex ratio — the number of boys born per 100 girls — stood at 105, a slight decrease of 0.1 compared to the previous year.
Separate data on marriage showed that the number of newlyweds reached 222,000 in 2024, a 14.8 percent increase from the previous year and the highest growth rate since the statistics began being recorded in 1970.