South Korea’s birth rate is set to show a rise in 2024 for the first time in nine years, following a rebound in marriages that were delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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The East Asian nation has recorded the world’s lowest fertility rates, but the number of newborns between January 2024 and November 2024 rose 3 per cent from a year earlier to 220,094, monthly government data showed on Wednesday.
In 2023, newborns fell by 7.7 per cent, extending declines to an eighth consecutive year and resulting in an annual fertility rate of 0.72, the lowest globally.
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What can South Korea do to reverse its dramatically falling birth rate?
What can South Korea do to reverse its dramatically falling birth rate?
The rise comes as marriages rose in 2023, marking the first increase in 12 years after couples had postponed weddings during the pandemic.
There is a high correlation between marriages and births in South Korea, with a time lag of one or two years, as marriage is often seen as a prerequisite to having children.
In a government survey last year, 62.8 per cent of South Koreans opposed births outside marriage, though that was down from 77.5 per cent seen a decade ago.
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In neighbouring China, the number of births rose 5.8 per cent to 9.54 million in 2024, also boosted by delays in marriages due to the pandemic.