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3w ago

South Korea’s Births Post 15-Year Best Gain as Fertility Ticks Up to 0.80

Policymakers now map expanded supports, projecting only a gradual climb from this still ultra‑low base.

Children cross a street in Seoul on May 30, 2025.
A voter carrying a baby casts his ballot at a polling station during the presidential election in Seoul, South Korea, June 3, 2025. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
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Overview

  • Provisional 2025 data show 254,500 births, up 6.8% year on year for the biggest increase since 2010, with the total fertility rate rising to 0.80 from 0.75.
  • Deaths climbed to about 363,400 last year, leaving a natural population decline of roughly 110,000 for a sixth consecutive year.
  • Officials attribute the rebound to more marriages and a larger cohort of women in their early 30s, noting shifting attitudes toward childbearing.
  • The upswing skews toward older mothers, with the average maternal age at 33.8 and a record 37.3% of births to women aged 35 and over.
  • Seoul is preparing a five‑year demographic roadmap and projects the fertility rate to stay above 0.8 this year with an optimistic path toward about 1.0 by 2031, even as Japan logged 705,809 births for a 10th straight annual drop and Singapore’s rate fell to 0.87.