Childbirths rise 13.6% in May

The number of babies born in Korea rose 13.6 percent in May from a year earlier, government data showed Wednesday, in another positive sign amid the country's demographic challenge.

A total of 23,160 babies were born in May, up from 20,379 a year earlier, according to findings released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics.

Over the January-May period, the total number of births came to 122,694, up 15.2 percent from the same period in 2025.

Korea's birth rate has begun rebounding since 2024, partly driven by a rise of post-pandemic marriages and government efforts to encourage couples to have babies.

The country's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, rose by 0.1 from a year earlier to 0.85 in May.

The rate still remains well below the 2.1 births per woman needed to maintain a stable population without immigration.

The number of marriages in May, meanwhile, fell 6.4 percent from a year earlier to 20,368.

Divorce numbers also declined 3.9 percent from a year earlier to 7,122.

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