Births up 11 pct in July, extending gains to 25th consecutive month

South Korea saw a significant increase in births in July, with the number of babies born rising 11.1 percent year-on-year, according to government figures. This marks the 25th consecutive month of growth in the country's birth rate. In July, 24,275 babies were born, surpassing the previous high of 25,222 set in 2019. The total fertility rate, which measures the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, also increased to 0.89 in July, up 0.08 from the previous year.

This rate remains below the critical threshold of 2.1 children per woman needed to sustain a stable population without immigration. The upward trend in births has persisted since July 2024, with 170,079 babies born from January to July 2025, marking a 14.7 percent increase compared to the same period a year earlier. The surge in births is attributed to a growing number of marriages, a rise in the population in their 30s, and a more favorable outlook towards parenthood.

July saw a 9.3 percent increase in marriages, totaling 22,282, while the number of divorces fell slightly, down 0.8 percent to 7,764. However, the number of deaths rose by 3 percent to 28,921, resulting in a natural population decline of 4,647 for the month.