1 jam yang lalu
April 22, 2026 | 10:00 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – South Korea recorded a rare surge in births in February 2026, offering a brief positive signal for a country that continues to face one of the world’s lowest fertility rates.
A total of 22,898 babies were born in February, up 13.6 percent from a year earlier, according to data released by the Ministry of Data and Statistics on Wednesday, April 22, 2026.
Citing Koreabizwire, this is the highest February figure since 2019 and the fastest growth rate for the month since records began in 1981.
The upward trend began in mid-2024 after years of steady decline. Officials say the increase is largely driven by women in their 30s, with birth rates rising sharply among women in their early and late 30s, while growth among women in their late 20s remains weaker.
Other demographic indicators showed mixed trends. Marriages fell 4.2 percent year-on-year to 18,557, partly due to fewer working days during the extended Lunar New Year holiday. Divorces declined 15.6 percent to 6,197, while deaths dropped 3.5 percent to 29,172.
Despite the rise in births, South Korea still recorded a natural population decrease of 6,275 in the same month, underscoring the fragility of its demographic recovery.
Government officials described the trend as cautiously encouraging. “The rise in pregnancies and birth registrations is a positive sign,” one official told Seoul Economic Daily. “If this continues, the country may enter a recovery phase in its birth rate earlier than expected.”
January 2026 also saw strong growth, with 26,916 births, up 11.7 percent from a year earlier, continuing the same upward pattern. If sustained, analysts say the annual fertility rate could exceed 0.9 this year.
That would surpass earlier projections by the national statistics agency, which had forecast a “high scenario” fertility rate of 0.8 based on earlier trends. South Korea had already reached that level a year ahead of expectations in 2025, raising the possibility of a faster-than-expected recovery toward a fertility rate of 1.0.
“Accurate forecasting is difficult due to many variables,” a statistics agency official said. “But given that the fertility rate already exceeded 0.8 last year, we expect the positive trend to continue this year.”
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