Korea’s births rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to 254,300 in 2025, the Ministry of Data and Statistics said Wednesday. The total fertility rate edged up to 0.8, suggesting a possible turning point in the country’s prolonged demographic decline. The number of births was the highest since 2021. The average age of women giving birth reached 33.8, while mothers aged 35 and older accounted for 37.3 percent of all births.
Nurses take care of newborns at CHA Ilsan Medical Center in Goyang, north of Seoul, July 29. Yonhap
The number of babies born in Korea rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to 254,300 in 2025, data showed Wednesday, while the country's fertility rate edged up to 0.8, signaling a possible turning point in the prolonged demographic decline of Asia's No. 4 economy.
According to an annual report by the Ministry of Data and Statistics, the number of births increased by 16,000 from a year earlier. It was the highest since 260,600 posted in 2021.
The total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime, rose by 0.05 to 0.8 over the period.
