This year's total fertility rate is expected to rebound for the first time in nine years... "around 0.74."

This year's fertility rate is expected to rebound for the first time in nine years since 2015.

Joo Hyung-hwan, Vice Chairman of the Low Fertility and Aging Society Committee, gave a lecture yesterday (26th) hosted by the Korea Business Association,

If the recent increase in the number of marriages and births is maintained, the total fertility rate this year will be around 0.74, higher than 0.72 last year, it said.

This is 0.06 higher than the 0.68 fertility rate forecast for this year, which was estimated by the National Statistical Office through future population estimates.

The domestic fertility rate has continued to fall since hitting 1.24 in 2015, but it is expected to rebound for the first time in nine years.

Earlier, the National Assembly Budget Office also predicted that the fertility rate will rise by 0.2 this year compared to the previous year, gradually rising by 2028.

According to data from the National Statistical Office, the number of births exceeded 20,000 in July and August, and the number of marriages in August was 17,527, up 20% from the same month last year.