The number of births in South Korea recorded a remarkable increase during last March, by nearly 20 percent year-on-year, reaching its highest level in seven years, driven by a clear increase in marriages, according to government data released Wednesday.
Yonhap Agency reported, quoting official data issued by the competent authorities for statistics, that the total number of births during March reached a total of 25,200 births, an increase of 19.4 percent compared to the same period last year, which is the highest number recorded since March 2019, when the number of births reached 27,049 children. The same data showed a relative improvement in the total fertility rate, which reflects the average number of children a woman is expected to give birth to throughout her life, as it increased by 0.15 points compared to the previous year, settling at 0.93 children, in a rare indication of an improvement in the demographic trend in the country. In the same context, the number of marriages continued its upward trend, recording an increase of 10.1 percent year-on-year, reaching 21,112 marriages, which reinforces expectations of continued improvement in birth figures during the coming months.
