South Korea Sees Rise In Births For 1st Time In 9 Years

MOSCOW, Jan 3 (Bernama-Sputnik/RIA Novosti) -- The number of babies born in South Korea, a country with one of the world's lowest fertility rates, increased for the first time in nine years in 2024, reported Sputnik/RIA Novosti.

Yonhap reported on Friday, citing government data, that a total of 242,334 babies were born last year, up 3.1 per cent from 2023, marking the first annual rise after eight consecutive years of decline.

The country's total population stood at 51,217,221 people, declining for five years in a row.

Lee Sang-lim, a researcher at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, said the upward trend in birth rates was likely to continue for the next two years, since the generations born after 1991, the so-called echo boomers, were reaching marriageable age.

--BERNAMA-SPUTNIK/RIA NOVOSTI