SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea is experiencing a rare increase in births after years of steep demographic decline, offering cautious optimism to a country grappling with one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.
Official figures released by the country’s statistics ministry show that nearly 23,000 babies were born in February this year, the highest number recorded for the month in seven years.
The year-on-year increase of 13.6 P.c was also the sharpest February rise since records began in 1981.
The modest recovery follows years of concern over South Korea’s shrinking population and ageing society, which have pushed the government to spend billions of dollars on incentives aimed at encouraging marriage and childbirth.
The country’s total fertility rate — the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her lifetime — rose from 0.75 in 2023 to 0.8 in 2024.
Despite the increase, the figure remains far below the replacement level of 2.1 needed to maintain population stability.
For many young South Koreans, economic pressures had previously made parenthood appear financially risky.
Kim Su-jin, a 32-year-old freelance music industry worker, said she and her husband initially worried about the cost of housing, childcare, and education before deciding to start a family.
“Because we believed that having a baby would bring us happiness,” she said after giving birth to her daughter in January last year.
The government has rolled out aggressive pro-natalist policies in recent years, including childbirth grants, monthly childcare allowances, subsidised fertility treatment, and low-interest home loans for young families.
Another mother, Kim Woo-jin, said state support had significantly eased the financial burden of raising a child.
She cited benefits including a two-million-won childbirth payment, maternity vouchers, and subsidies for transport and post-natal care.
Economics professor Hong Sok-chul of Seoul National University argued that government policies had helped make childbirth and marriage more economically viable.
“Rather than trying to force marriage or childbirth, the government focused on lowering the direct and indirect costs,” he said.
However, not all experts are convinced that the recovery signals a long-term demographic shift.
Demographer Lee Sang-lim cautioned that the increase could partly reflect delayed marriages and births following the COVID-19 pandemic rather than a permanent reversal in fertility trends.
He also pointed to the demographic impact of a relatively large generation born in the early 1990s that is now reaching peak childbearing age.
While younger generations appear increasingly open to family life, experts warn that South Korea’s demographic crisis is far from resolved.
Hong said sustained policy support would still be necessary to prevent future population decline.
“The current rebound, while positive, is still insufficient for long-term population replacement,” he said.
