The number of babies born has increased for two months in a row...The possibility of annual plus for the first time in 9 years

[Anchor]
The number of babies born in August exceeded 20,000, increasing for two consecutive months.

As the number of births in all months has increased in the past five months except in June, there is a possibility that the annual number of births will turn positive for the first time in nine years.

Reporter Oh In-seok on the report.

[Reporter]
In August, 20,098 babies were born, up 1,124 and 5.9% from a year ago.

The number of babies born in July and August exceeded 20,000, increasing for the second consecutive month.

In the last five months, the number of births has increased in all months except last June.

It is analyzed that many first children were born as marriages, which were postponed due to COVID-19, were concentrated from August 2022 to March of the following year.

Some observers say that a rebound in the total fertility rate, which has fallen to the 0.7 level per year, may be possible.

[Lim Young-il / Director of Population Trends at Statistics Korea: The number of babies born in 2023 has decreased relatively significantly compared to 2022, so the number of babies born is expected to increase relatively in the second half of this year.]

There were 17,527 marriages in August, up 20% from a year ago.

The increase continued for five months, with a 33% increase in July.

It is analyzed that the number of marriages in their early 30s, the age of marriage, has increased significantly.

The government believes that policy effects, such as a set of three newborn babies, have affected the increase in marriage.

According to a recent survey of 2,000 men and women conducted by the Low Fertility and Aging Committee, 65.4% of unmarried respondents said they are "planning to get married specifically or want to get married someday."

This is 4.4 percentage points higher than the survey in March.The number of deaths increased due to the aging population of

and the population fell naturally by 12,146 in August.

This is YTN Oh In-seok.



Jeong Jeong-yoon in video editing
DesignHyojin Kim