S. Korea's birthrate increases for 7th straight month in Jan.

The number of newborns in January here in Korea noted a remarkable rise on year as it surged over 11 percent.

Park Jun-han covers the latest findings.

As of January, the number of childbirths in South Korea has been on the rise for seven consecutive months.

According to Statistics Korea's data on Wednesday, the number of childbirths in January 2025 was 23-thousand 9-hundred-47.

This number is 11.6 percent higher than the 21-thousand-4-hundred-61 births in January 2024.

That's the biggest percentage increase since related data was first compiled.

South Korea's total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman would have during her lifetime, also increased from January 2024's point-8 children to this January's point-88 children.

The statistics show an increase in the total fertility rate for 25-29 year olds, those in their 30s, and those aged 40 and over.

The number of marriages in South Korea has been rising for the past ten months, with the marriage rate increasing by over ten percent compared to the year before for all of those ten months except for June 2024 and January 2025.

In January 2025, the number of marriages came to 20-thousand-1-hundred-53, point-7 percent higher than that of January last year.

"If you look at the marriage growth rate, it has been increasing since April 2024 until now.

In January 2025, there was a point-7 percent increase, so it looks like the growth rate has decreased a little bit, but it's actually due to the impact of four fewer reporting days because of the Seollal holiday in January 2025.

If the number of reporting days hadn't decreased by four, the marriage rate would have been in the 20 percent range or at least in double-digit growth."

Even though there has been a recent increase in births and marriages, the declining population and aging society remain concerns for South Korea.

As a result of 39-thousand-4-hundred-73 deaths in January 2025, the country saw a natural population decline of 15-thousand-5-hundred-26 people.

Park Jun-han, Arirang News.