Statistics Korea in its May report on population trends released on July 23 said the number of newborns in the first five months of the year surpassed a record-high 100,000. Shown is the neonatal care unit of a hospital in Incheon's Michuhol-gu District. (Yonhap News)

By Lee Dasom

The number of newborns in May marked its 11th straight month of growth year on year, with the cumulative number of births in the first five months of the year exceeding 100,000 for the first time.

Statistics Korea on July 23 released a report on national population trends saying the number of babies born in May was 20,309, up 3.8% or 741 from the same month last year. The increase was also the month's highest in 14 years since 5.3% in May 2011.

The cumulative number of newborns from January and May was 106,048, up 6.9% year on year and the highest rise since the statistic was launched in 1981.

The total fertility rate, or the average number of children a woman is expected to have during her childbearing years, was 0.75% in May, up two hundredths of a percentage point. 

Statistics Korea said the rebound in births was driven by the childbirth support policies of the central and local governments, higher number of marriage and increase in the population of women in their early 30s.

The number of marriages in May also rose 4% to 21,761 for the 14th straight month of growth since April last year.

dlektha0319@korea.kr