Fertility Rebound For The First Time In 9 Years... "Predicts 0.74 This Year"

[Anchor]
Baby cries have grown this year, and the number of babies born has exceeded 20,000 for the last three months in a row.

Until September, the total fertility rate was counted as 0.74, and the total fertility rate for this year was also expected to be the same.

It's the first rebound in nine years.

Lee Seung-eun reports.

[Reporter]
The number of babies born in September was 25,590, up 10.1% from a year ago.

This is the largest increase in 14 years.

Usually, many babies are born at the beginning of the year and are given toward the end of the year, but rather, the number has exceeded 20,000 for the last three consecutive months.

As a result, the total fertility rate in the third quarter was 0.76, rising back to the level of the first quarter.

There were 178,600 babies born in September this year, and the total fertility rate recorded 0.74 by September this year.

The National Statistical Office initially predicted that this year's annual total fertility rate would be 0.68, breaking last year's record low of 0.72.

However, the fertility trend has turned positive, and the total annual fertility rate is likely to be 0.74 this year, it said.

If this happens, the fertility rate, which had only fallen since 1.24 in 2015, will rebound for the first time in nine years.

The National Statistical Office believes that marriage, which was delayed after the COVID-19 crisis, has also been affected by the government's measures to reduce the birth rate and the changing perception of marriage.

[Lim Young-il / Director of Population Trends at Statistics Korea: From August 2022 to the first quarter of 2023, increased marriages from the same month last year appear to have had an impact. The impact of the increase in the female population in their 30s and the increase in the fertility rate in their 30s....]

By September this year, the number of marriages also increased nearly 13% to 167,700, the largest increase since related statistics were compiled.

However, the total fertility rate is still very low compared to other countries.

In addition, the natural decline in the population continued as the number of deaths reached 30,000 in September and nearly 90,000 in the third quarter, exceeding the number of births.

I'm YTN's Lee Seung Eun.

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video: Han Soo-min
Design: Jung Eun-ok Lee Na-eun